The Mandylion Saga Part Two: Transitions
by Jizena
Summary: Continuation from Part 1: Changes. Part 2 of 4. Tak has usurped the Empire, Dib and Gaz come to terms with their mother's background; Zim and the Tallest, newly human, seek help from the Swollen Eyeball... M for language/violence.
1. Summer Heat 1: Strength and Restrictions

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**Author's Note:**

WELCOME BACK! :D Thank you all so much for waiting through my week's hiatus (during which I became quite busy, so having that week was good), but now we can finally begin… _Part Two: Transitions!_

Thank you all, as well, for sticking with me through this story, for all of your awesome feedback on _TWFF_ and _IZMS Part One,_ and welcome to _Part Two!_ I'm so excited, this is where the story gets rolling~ (it is the 'transition' phase, after all).

For new readers, welcome, welcome! If you have not yet read _Time Warp Factor Five_ or _The Mandylion Saga: Changes,_ you can find them here: .net/s/6889279/1/Time_Warp_Factor_Five and .net/s/6950449/1/The_Mandylion_Saga_Part_One_Changes. _Transitions_ starts right off where _Changes_ ended, so only a bit of recap will be touched upon. Again, we'll be following the same three narrators, even though these next few parts maaaaay have some 'bonus' chapters from other narrators as well... :3

Updates will once again be on Fridays… as close as I can to the 9:30pm (EST) slot. If anything needs to change in my update schedule, I'll post an announcement in my profile. I hope you all enjoy the continuation~~! ^^

_Invader Zim_ is -c- Jhonen Vasquez! Only the events of this story, characters specific to the story, and character tweaking (heh) are mine. :3

~Jizena~

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Invader Zim:

**~The Mandylion Saga~**

~_Part Two: Transitions _~

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_Zim's Records_

My eyes snapped open as I woke with a start from a restless, incomprehensible dream.

Sitting up, to escape back into the waking world, I surveyed my surroundings. Slowly, I started to catch up to where I was, and to what had happened.

One week.

It had been, based on the pattern of the sun, at least one week since the scuffle over the Cabochon. Since then, the dreams had come every so often, just like the other flashes that had come and gone since the Warp. My dreams were littered with scenes that may or may not have been memories. I had no way of knowing. Either way, they threw me off. I hated being thrown off. Some nights, I'd wake up and it could take up to an hour for me to realize, _You woke up. That means you were asleep. That means you're human._

As human as I could be for now, at any rate. And so, I was also constantly reminding myself, were the Tallest. They'd been adjusting. I wouldn't say they were adjusting _well,_ but they were individually making their efforts. For Red, that meant complaining every step of the way. For Purple, it was more a feeling of, _This is how it is now, so go with it._

Glancing around, I noticed that both of them were asleep, passed out in the oppressive summer heat. Oops—I was supposed to be on the guarding shift; I must've fallen asleep once the flashes had settled in and become too severe for a waking mind to handle. The flashes and dreams that night had been awful reminders of the recent and unlawful paradigm shift within the Empire. My dreams had shown me past interactions with Tak that I did not remember, but knew they must have been true. We were in the presence of Tallest Miyuki. I'd believe any dream involving Miyuki. Somehow, I had to figure out exactly how I had killed her, since nobody had ever told me specifics. They had only ever told me that she was dead. One of these days, a flash was sure to provide me with proof. Not that I was looking forward to it.

Despite setbacks like that, I enjoyed being on the midnight watch. It gave me a sense of entitlement around the Tallest, and it also allowed me time to think. During the day, everything was about plowing forward, keeping on the move. Evening, dusk, and midnight were for reflection.

Once I'd fully roused myself and gotten my bearings, I leaned back against a tree and looked out over the sprawling field we'd settled in for the night. We'd been walking for days... we were sure to hit a town soon.

Gifted with the opportunity, I began to look back on the past week. A week, really? I suppose, for all I knew, it could have been longer. I very well could have passed out for twenty-four hours on an occasion or two. The Tallest slept, but erratically. I figured it was a mix of both heat and, well, learning what sleep was. I'd had trouble my first few days, too. Back before I'd learned what a luxury it was, before I'd learned how remarkable being human could be.

And I sincerely hope that I'd never complained as much as Tallest Red did.

There was one thing that Red could do, and he did it well: fight. He was a fighter, and that, for a war-obsessed Empire, made him an effective dictator. It did not, however, suit him as a human. At least, not yet.

Day one had been... eye-opening. It had taken a few hours to get the Tallest to so much as stand, let alone cover any ground. Due to the fight in him, I'd gotten Red standing first. It had gone something like this:

The Tallest—Purple, mostly—had given me ample time to go off and think things through for myself. Ample time to readjust to my human body, to my six-foot frame, to my awareness of the world around me, to the beautiful feeling of the wind in my hair and the sun on my skin... to the palette of colors that flowed so seamlessly, so perfectly together. But with the luxuries also came the distracting pain from the reopened wound on my right arm (which, thank God, Purple had had the odd sense to bandage up for me), and the sinking feeling in my chest when my mind inevitably wandered to memories of the first time I had been human.

I'd see her again. We'd talk again. I had to keep telling myself that, to keep moving. With my human conscience had come the insatiable want and need to fight for whatever mattered to her. She had saved me. She had given me something realistic to strive for. I did want to be human. Hopefully, this time, I could have longer than a week to enjoy it. Something told me, given that Tak was now the Tallest, and bent on reissuing the Elite for the purpose of making life hell for me, that I'd have a hell of a lot more than a week.

Satisfied for those first few moments of being human again, I wandered back over to the Tallest, who had barely moved since I'd left them, several minutes before. Red was sitting with one leg bent up, the other extended awkwardly in front of him; he kept himself propped up with his right arm, and was ripping at a few blades of grass with his left, scowling at either the ground or his large human hand. Or both. Purple had his back to his partner, and was leaning forward on both knees, which were bent up at an obtuse angle. His arms were folded across his knees, and he rested his chin in his arms, his right eye completely covered by his purple bangs, while the rest of his longish black hair splayed randomly over his shoulders.

"Good," Red commented, glaring up at me, "you're done."

"Aaaaand, you're still sitting," I pointed out.

"Yeah, it sucks."

I tried not to laugh, even though the impulse was itching. "Sir, with all due respect," I said, keeping things the way I was sure the Tallest would prefer I speak to them, "we're going to have to start walking."

"We're fine," said Red, his eyes narrowing behind the thin, rectangular frames of his glasses. "It's your fault we're in this mess at all, so it's your job to get us out."

That hit a bad nerve with me. Now, I did not want to anger the Tallest, but at the same time, I knew I'd have to be firm if I was going to get them both adjusted to being human. And, of course, being human was something I greatly enjoyed; I wasn't about to let those two ruin it for me. "Okay," I said, walking right up to Red and squatting down so that I could speak to him eye to eye—an action which got him to shirk a little, since _nobody_ looked a Tallest in the eye like that, "I'll do what I can. But that involves me teaching you how to be human."

"I don't want to be human," Red snarled.

"Well, you know, sir, that really can't be helped right now," I snapped, standing again. "You got a problem with it? Fight me."

"What?"

"You need to learn how to move and you need to learn how to fight back in that body!" I shouted at him. GIR, nearby, took a seat and fixed his hands over his eyes so that it looked like he was utilizing spectator binoculars.

"Who says I'm gonna fight anyone looking like this?" Red hollered up at me. He fumbled to move his legs into a more comfortable position, but was only succeeding in making things more difficult for himself.

"I do," I told him. As much as, when I had been Irken again, I'd appreciated being in the Tallests' favor, I was enjoying even more this new ability to speak on the same level as them. Another perk to being on Earth and playing by human rules. I'd keep some respect for them, of course, but I knew the rules they now needed to follow. "I don't know if you heard Tak as she was taking off again, but she's going to send the Elite after us. And as long as you look human, they'll target you, so you've gotta be able to fight back."

"Uh, no?" said Red, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not gonna fight my own soldiers."

I groaned and ran my hands through my hair, utterly frustrated. "Don't you get it? They aren't yours, they're Tak's!" I shouted.

"Don't raise your tone to me!" Red barked.

"Oh, for crying out loud, Red!" Purple snapped back at him.

"You shut up!" Red licked back.

Fed up, and wanting to accomplish _something_ on that first day, I stormed up to Red, grabbed him by the collar, hauled him up and threw him into the trunk of a large tree nearby. Now, that had felt good. I was glad to find that I still had good combat strength as a human. After colliding, Red fell to the ground, rubbing the back of his head. "Ow!" he spat. "Damn it, Zim! It's not your place to—"

I rushed over to him, hauled him up again, and hit him hard with a left hook, sending him sprawling to the ground again. "Right now, I'm not under your control," I reminded him, stepping up to him and kicking him over onto his back. "Imagine what would happen if I wasn't on your side." I leaned down, and pressed the middle and index fingers of my right hand, positioned like a gun, into his forehead, and said, "Bang. You'd be dead."

That got Red's eyes to widen in panic a little, but they narrowed again just as quickly as he snapped, "I'm still the Tallest. You have no right to treat me like this."

"Maybe if you'd stand the hell up we'd see if I could gather up a little more respect for you!" I shouted right back. All this retaliation was most likely going to come back and bite me in the ass later, but I was presently enjoying it. My human mind was adolescent, after all. I'd experienced a fair deal of butting heads with my 'parents' during the Warp—as Tak had somehow given the robotic parents I'd designed real human likenesses as well—and this felt fairly similar. After all, given his position, and the fact that he looked about twenty years older than I did... damn—Red really was the closest thing to a father figure I'd ever had.

"Zim, I'm warning you—"

"Stand up!"

"I can't!" Red hollered at me, propping himself up on his elbows. "Tallest don't even need to _walk,_ we're so much better than you! How'm I supposed to just—"

"If I could figure out gravity and how the human body works in a day, so can you!" I argued. With that, I grabbed him by the front of his shirt with both hands, hauled him up again, and rammed him into the side of the tree, making sure his feet were planted on the ground.

Well, the description of _tallest_ had definitely stayed with him, that was the first thing I noticed. If I was six feet tall, I'd estimate Red to have about four inches on me; he had longer limbs and broader shoulders, and could absolutely be intimidating as hell if he wanted to be. In fact, I cowered under Red's authoritarian glare much more than I did his height. He could get what he wanted with a single look. Nobody fucked with Red. Plain and simple. So it was my duty to get him to incite that kind of plebian terror even as a human.

Of course, what he noticed about me was... "Why the fuck are _you_ so damn tall?" He was furious. Enraged. The four inches meant nothing; I was still _much_ too tall for his liking.

"I don't know," I said, grinning just to make him angry, in hopes that something would make him start fighting back. "Some humans just are. But you're still taller than me, Red. In fact, you've got a lot of real advantages with that body, and you've sure as hell got enough hatred in you to make yourself a worthy opponent, but you're not putting any of that to use, just because you're distraught. Get over it! There's nothing you can do about it till Tak decides to get her sorry ass back down here, so until then, you've gotta learn to defend yourself if you _ever_ want to be in power again."

"But who are you to—" he began.

"I'm all you've got right now!" I snorted. I spun Red around and dropped him onto his back again, so that I could yell down at him for effect, rather than keep looking up. To get him even madder, I pressed down on his chest with my right foot. I was so going to be destroyed for this, but I didn't care. "I've been human before, this is no big deal for me. So I figure I should get you accustomed to living like this, and I _hoped_ I could teach you a few things about fighting! Those who want to kill you aren't gonna be as easy as this."

"You were going _easy_ on me?" Red cried.

"That, and, you're completely pathetic, and you won't even stand up!"

"I've been a Tallest for too long!" he protested. "I don't even remember how—"

"Tough shit. Deal with it, Red."

Red snarled, grabbed my foot (which I had pressed dangerously close to his neck), and flipped me over his head. I hit the ground hard, and the momentum was enough to get Red onto his own feet. I recovered and spun around quickly, standing and taking on a ready position.

"Nice," I grinned. "I got you standing. You wanna keep up the fight?"

I was suddenly punched in the back of my skull, causing me to lose my breath for a second. I turned and saw Purple standing behind me. He cracked his knuckles and said, "Let's just start with getting used to moving around in these bodies. _Then_ we'll see what we can do about the whole fighting issue."

I rubbed the back of my head and was about to yell at him, then was hit with a shock when I noticed that, unlike Red, who had retained his height, Purple was several inches shorter than me; I estimated half a foot. And I was not subtle about noticing the difference, either. My eyes went wide, and I glanced back at Red, who looked perturbed, and then back at Purple. _Down_ at Purple. He folded his arms and glared up at me, his face flushing red a little as he did so.

"Well," he prompted, snorting and turning his head to the side huffily, his hair, which reached a little past his shoulders, swirling around his face as he did so, "aren't you going to make some wise remark?"

"U-um... a... about what?" I tried to cover, stepping back so that I wasn't standing directly in front of him. His height was unnerving, and more than a little strange. Why, when Red, his exact Irken equal, stood about four inches taller than me, was Purple now so different? And, even more unsettling to my mind, why did he somehow already seem comfortable with the fact that he was now almost a foot shorter than his partner?

"'About what?'" Purple chided, outstretching his arms. "It's one thing that _Red_ hasn't made fun of me yet, but not even you, Zim? I'm short, I get it! Go ahead and laugh."

"I wasn't going to laugh!" I assured him. A laugh was stuck in my throat nonetheless. I'd already pissed Red off enough for one day, though, and Purple was the silent killer. I didn't want to get on his bad side by pointing out his decreased height. "Honestly, I wasn't!"

The Tallest's alluring purple eyes softened slightly, and he said quietly, "Stop trying to please me, Zim. I'm not 'Tallest' Purple right now, remember?" He turned away and added, mostly to himself, it seemed, "I'm just like you."

Deducing that he was simply feeling a little distraught at Tak having taken away his power, I sighed and turned to look back at Red. "All right," I said, "we can pick up the fighting later. How're you holding up?"

"Oh, just _great,"_ spat Red. "When I flipped you, I lost that... whatever it was that helped me see."

I looked around, then found the pair of glasses and picked them up, bringing them back over to Red. "These're called glasses," I said, handing them to him. He squinted down at them, and unfolded one of the temple arms with a static hand movement. "You unfold them... yeah, like that... and just like you had them on earlier, the longer part just kinda hooks behind your ears, and then the—"

"Ears?"

I slapped a hand to my forehead. "This is impossible," I groaned, grabbing at my bangs. "Just... I don't know, just slide them on." I poked his right ear impatiently. "These're your ears, by the way. All humans have them."

Red turned the glasses over and back in his hands, then cautiously put them on, sliding them up the ridge of his nose until they rested in place, cringing a little as he did so. "Why do I even need these... glasses, anyway?" he wondered, anger in his voice. "He doesn't have to wear them!" he shouted, pointing over at Purple. "Why do I?"

Purple turned back toward us, grinned broadly and spat, "Hah!"

"Well," I said, "it's either that Tak took more power from you, or it's that they symbolize the fact that you're completely _blind_ to just about _everything!_ I rest with the latter," I added, turning away to retrieve GIR.

"What's up with the way you've been speaking lately?" Purple asked me, snapping back to his regular attitude as I picked GIR up by the scruff of the neck. "'I rest with the latter?' Last I checked, you did not talk like that. You've been doing it for a while, too."

"So?" I wondered, walking back over, and scanning around for a sign of a road or path.

"Zim, you haven't been rememberi—" Purple began, then slapped a hand over his mouth. He immediately drew his hand away, scowling down at it. "That's ugly," he remarked, trying to change his thought in mid-sentence. "Why do humans need so many fingers? I ruled the Empire with _two._ Humans must be pretty weak if they need _five."_

"What were you going to ask me?" I demanded, narrowing my eyes at him.

"Nothing," he covered, looking kind of nervous.

I scowled, then turned away again. "I don't remember anything," I said harshly. "That's what you were going for, right?" I saw Red shoot his partner a horrible, testing glare, and Purple looked instantly guilty. It was sort of weird seeing such a range of emotions between them. I had never known the Tallest well... I'd only ever been able to observe them, and form opinions based on how they presented themselves and how they had previously interacted with me. They were both a lot more multifaceted than they generally appeared to be. "Whatever I did before, I don't remember, okay? I understand that everyone knows my brain's a black hole. But it's there, and I'm like that, so let's drop it."

"You _do_ remember something," Red sensed. Accurately. Shit! "What is i—"

"Look!" I snapped, almost losing my temper and throwing GIR at him.

"Wheeee!" GIR cried.

"If you don't want me to keep beating you up, I suggest you drop it!" I finished. "I'd rather not talk about it, because it doesn't really matter, okay? Now let's get outta here; it's getting dark, and I'm sure you have no idea what sleep even is. Come on."

And so we had set out. With the sun as my only sense of direction, I led the way as best I could, pretending I had some sense of where I was heading. We started off slowly, so that I could give the Tallest plenty of time to find their gaits and scramble against gravity, and the slow pace let me start considering the advantages and disadvantages those two now had.

For one thing, they'd be different fighters. Combat was the primary thing on my mind that day, since Tak's words still echoed in my ears. No doubt we were going to war. Meaning I'd have to work with the Tallest on their individual skills as humans, and get them to understand that Tak's usurped reign would be one of bloodlust. She didn't care about annexing Earth as much as she did getting revenge, or so I figured.

Red. Red still had his height, which was great. He had a durable build and plenty of rage, and could flip someone of my height and stature with little effort. He was, however, horribly, horribly nearsighted. It was true of his politics, and now it was true of his physical self. Break his glasses, and he'd be useless.

Then Purple. He really was the silent killer. I hadn't even heard him move before he'd hit me from behind. That blow had been hard, too, so his appearance was a little deceiving as far as strength went. But he was still short. Six inches shorter than me. And small in frame. I remembered Tak yelling at him that he always thought small... and thus, so much was now physically true. Hopefully, such a stature could gift him with heightened agility, but time would tell in that respect.

As for me... I had no idea how my physical appearance had anything to do with my Irken self, other than the fact that I came off as a teenager with limited experience of the world. Possibly because I still couldn't fully remember the first sixty years of that life. The years that had involved Miyuki. She'd been more or less wiped of my mind entirely. So why did I keep thinking about her?

Why did I keep obsessing over someone I had supposedly brutally killed?

It bothered me that the Tallest had brought up my vacant past so easily. Something told me it would come to be of importance. And if the flashes continued as they had been since the day Tak had cut my arm, I could be on the verge of piecing something or other together.

Well. I had plenty of time to contemplate that. I figured it was best not to do that in the heat of the day, and pressed onward.

Now, a few days later, we still had no idea where we were. Or, well, _I_ had no idea, and GIR had long since outworn his guidance system... or had just uninstalled it somehow. Red was pissed that there were no information checkpoints or recharge centers anywhere around, and Purple kept on complaining about how hot it was. Luckily, we'd been able to keep to a path near a stream, which meant we could bathe (and had _that_ ever been an interesting conversation that I never wish to repeat) and stay hydrated. Even so, we needed proper lodging and nourishment soon. The main complaint for all of us was how little we'd eaten.

Purple was so small and thin I was certain he'd collapse, but he was actually holding up better than either Red or I was, possibly because he hadn't yet taken part in one of our little matches. GIR, thankfully, had a stash of energy tablets on him (they were little things I'd stocked him up on some time ago; developed by Vortian scientists to be consumed by any species, they were adequate, while unappetizing, meal substitutes), but we had to ration them, and walking and sparring (every once in a while) burned more energy than the tablets provided. Long story short, screw the steak, I'd eat a whole damn cow. And yes, I wasn't just anticipating eating human food again, I became obsessed with the thought. Which made not being able to eat any, at present, that much more unbearable.

I dealt with the hunger pains that evening, though, since I'd accepted that there was nothing much I could do but keep us moving forward. Hopefully, the Tallest could behave appropriately once we finally did make it to a town, even if that most likely meant that I'd make them both be quiet and allow me to do whatever talking needed to be done. I couldn't hide my anticipation. I wanted to immerse myself back into the culture on Earth that I'd grown so fond of. I wanted to move through the world as a human, to interact accordingly, to reaffirm for myself that I had come to love the concept of human life.

Which got me thinking about the Tallest. I was in a catch with them. Obviously, there was no way I wanted Tak to stay in power, so I had to restore them to their position as soon as I was able. Which probably meant a few fights against Tak's army between now and then. At the same time, I wanted—needed—to get the real Tallest to call off the real attack on Earth that had been in the works. What a stupid move that had been, pretending that I cared so little about the planet that I could have a hand in its destruction. I loved being human, and I wanted the Tallest to understand why.

I stood up and glanced around, to make sure both were still around. Red was sprawled out rather close by. He tossed and turned a lot in his sleep, and I hadn't had the courage yet to ask him if he'd yet discovered what dreams—and nightmares—were. Purple, on the other hand... I had to walk a few paces before I saw him, lying on his left side in a softer patch of grass. He could barely be heard breathing in his sleep.

Glad to have, despite my fading out for a bit, done my duty as midnight guard, I let out what I thought was just a small sigh of relief. Apparently, though, I'd made enough noise to cause Purple to jolt awake. He sat up quickly, and with a swift, fluid motion he grabbed a thick, sharp stick that had been lying close to his right hand, and turned in my direction in such a way that he could be on his feet and using that stick as a weapon at any second.

"I—woah, I'm sorry!" I ran my words out, taking a step back and holding out my hands to indicate that I meant no harm. "I-I apologize, I didn't think you were awake."

"Oh," said Purple in an unreadable tone as he lowered his makeshift weapon, "it's just you." I stood there frozen for a moment, unsure of what to do. Luckily, as it had always been back in the Empire, he made the decision for me. "Have a seat, Zim," he said, shifting to sit cross-legged as he set the stick to the side. "I've been meaning to talk to you."

"All... all right," I gave in. I did as he asked, and took a seat a couple feet to his right. "Are, um... are you adjusting okay?" I decided on asking.

Purple, to my surprise, smiled a little. "I'm managing," he answered. "As for you... so you've been this way before?"

"Human, you mean?" Purple nodded. "Yes," I replied. "As I mentioned, I have. I... I didn't want to tell you before. On the _Massive._ I didn't want you to think that I was unfit for work because of this experience, or..."

"Oh, you're incredibly unfit," Purple laughed. Should have known that was coming. I felt myself flush red, and tried not to look at him. "Unfit for the position you were trying to grasp at, anyway. It's obvious that you're rather comfortable with being human."

"Is it?" I wondered. I was at once delighted and petrified. Suppose I had come off as obvious of that fact, even as an Irken. I really did have a difficult time trying to figure out exactly where I was supposed to fit in. Hopefully, opportunities would open up now that I was back on Earth.

Purple nodded. "I wish you'd come clean to me before," he added. "We could have been more prepared for what Tak was gearing up to do."

My heart sank. I hadn't thought of that. The Cabochon, the ancient Irken Talisman that Tak now had sole possession of, the gem that had given her the ability to shift the three of us to human form, was the power source she had been trying to obtain all along. The machine that had originally altered my DNA was based on that ancient stone's ability. "I'm sorry," I tried.

"Apologies can't change what's done," Purple said gravely. "All that exists is what is." That sounded incredibly prophetic of him, but I decided not to call him on it. After all, I was hopeful that this was not going to be the last of our talks. I did enjoy talking to him, since I felt that I could get out my worries and thoughts, without Red interrupting and being pushy. So, as long as we were talking, I figured I could try to get some of my present nerves out.

"You... you don't suppose she's going to keep on using that thing," I wondered, "to create her army?"

"Who knows?" said Purple. "I'm glad you're thinking the same things I am, though. Tak simply cannot be trusted with that thing. Plus, with that ability she has on her own... she'll raise up followers in no time." Her ability must have meant her hypnosis. Tak has always been able, based on what I always assumed was a fluke in her design, to gain mind control based on a spark from her eyes.

We weren't able to get much further in the conversation, though, since at that moment, Purple yawned. Coming from him, it was actually a very delicate motion; he covered his mouth with one hand, which is generally an involuntary action, but for him it seemed like something new, yet already perfected. "Sorry," he apologized. "Let's talk again at another point. This heat is getting to me. Hate to say it, but I'm exhausted."

"Oh," I said. After a beat, just to check in, I asked, "Sir, really, are you adjusting o—"

"Don't call me 'sir,'" Purple muttered.

"Sorry," I said, shirking back a bit, "I just wanted to make sure you were holding up all right. I mean, i-in the heat, and getting used to being on Earth, and being human and all—"

"Stop treating me like I'm weak," Purple commanded, looking away from me and out at the field again. "I'm not weak, I'm just short."

Stupidly, I pressed the issue. "And... and doesn't that bother you?"

Purple's eyes narrowed in frustration, but he didn't lash out. For someone whose life had been so drastically altered in the course of minutes, he was behaving in an eerily rational way. And that terrified me. If there was one thing I was learning about him, it was not to expect or suspect anything. "My height doesn't bother me as much as other things do," he answered in his gliding tone. "I have plenty of other things to worry about."

"Such as?" I wondered.

"Stop asking questions, Zim," Purple warned me. He turned, and glared right at me. Whereas Red's human appearance seemed to suggest a lot of the way he carried himself as an Irken Tallest, Purple seemed more like me... given a visage that barely called an Irken to mind at all. The strands of his hair that fell a little longer than the rest, in front of his ears, seemed to suggest antennae, but it was in his eyes that I truly saw nothing human at all. They were a beautiful, strange, Irken color of purple, sure... and while the shape of them was molded to suggest that he was human, there was a coldness in them that no one else on Earth possessed. Red's eyes, too, gave off that frigid feel... even more so, in fact. Red did seem to be the more dominant force, after all. He called most of the shots. But Purple was every bit as much of a Tallest as Red was.

"I'm sorry," I apologized, looking away to escape those eyes.

Purple sighed, then shifted and lay back down, his back turned to me. I figured that meant that our conversation was over, but after a few quiet moments, he said, "So are you still obsessed with this place?"

"Eh?" I glanced down, but he remained in that position, not allowing me to see his reactions. Which, I suppose, was for the best. This way, I could avoid more eye contact. It was terrible, but the glares that he and Red were still capable of were able to put me in my place, and I didn't like it. My ideas about human life—what it meant, what it offered—kept on shifting and evolving, and presently I'd begun equating it to freedom. I'd never really known freedom, come to think of it.

"You heard me. Are you still obsessed with Earth, and whatever it is you found here?" Purple wondered.

"I..." I began. As an indulgence, I glanced down at my hands, and instantly my mind was transported back to the first night I had accepted everything; the night that the concept of human life began to settle in, and ultimately change me. That night on the roof of Gaz's house, when she had allowed me to make one of the boldest moves I had ever made, when she had listened to and helped dispel my nerves. When it became clear in my mind that I would do anything for her. "I did find something," I answered Purple, even though the slowed pattern of his breathing suggested that he had fallen asleep. "Something incredible. And I'm more than obsessed. I'm enamored."

He did not answer, but that was fine. I could talk to him more about what I loved about Earth later. For the moment, the planet graced me with one of those very reasons as a slight breeze rose up, rustling through the grass and orchestrating a ripple among the trees.

Through the wind, I caught the scent of wild lilacs. I only knew it at all because of her. Closing my eyes, I took everything in. The rush of the wind, the scent on the air, the quickening pulse of my heart. Relaxed as I had been in a very long time, I ran my hands through my hair, my fingers catching once or twice in the thick tangle before I locked them together at the back of my head, creating a makeshift pillow as I lay back onto the soft summer grass.

I opened my eyes again and looked up at the stars.

I could be anywhere, I realized. Anywhere on Earth. Not necessarily even North America, even though the terrain suggested something familiar to me. But the sky gave me some hope. Because somewhere on Earth were people I knew. People I—both happily and reluctantly—trusted. People I could go to for help, no matter how long it took.

"I'm coming back," I said, very quietly, into the night sky.

I'd find her. I had to find her. I had to apologize, and come clean, and make amends. And tell her how much that week had changed me, how much I'd missed her through everything. And take her side, and take her hand as we took on whatever was to come. If being human meant being near her, I thought, I'd take it.

If being human was a symbol of freedom, she'd been the one to make me realize that.

I at least had to thank her for teaching me what freedom was.

– – –


	2. Panel 1: Trapped

– – –

**Author's Note:**

_Invader Zim_ is -c- Jhonen Vasquez! Only the events of this story, characters specific to the story, and character tweaking (heh) are mine. :3

~Jizena~

– – –

_Gaz's Records_

I had never felt so trapped.

There's nothing worse than being alone with nowhere to run, even surrounded by logic and life. Nothing made sense, though, once Dib had gone missing.

The room appeared to have swallowed him.

My brother was nowhere to be seen. No amount of searching and calling and screaming and pleading could get me any closer to him. He was just gone. Again. Without a word this time.

The day before his birthday, we'd speculated about the identity and whereabouts of our mother. He'd gone to seek information from the powerfully secretive Professor Haynsworth, and then had disappeared. I'd followed behind him, but several minutes too late. I arrived in the grand hall of the main building just in time to see the door to the room that was usually locked swing and slam shut. I'd shouted after my brother and rushed at the door, but it was locked from the inside.

I screamed, and tugged at the knob, then pounded my dominant left fist against the door until it scraped and bled. Only then did someone come. Hands touched my shoulders, hands I did not recognize and were therefore in my mind a threat. I spun around and shoved whoever had grabbed me away.

"Gaz!" The sharp contralto belonged to my brother's spokeswoman, Charlotte Baudelaire. I hadn't spoken to her enough to have formed much of an opinion about her. At the moment, I hated her.

"Stay away from me!" I shouted, taking a swing at the woman. She caught my wrists before I could hit her, which just got me angrier. I wrestled her away and got in a clean punch this time, knocking her rose-tinted glasses askew. "Where is he?" I demanded.

"Let me ex—"

"And don't fuck with me!" I screamed. "Where _is he?"_

"Gaz," said Charlotte, rubbing her cheek where I'd cuffed her, "calm down. You poor girl, your hand is bleeding, let's—"

"Poor girl nothing! Where's my brother?"

Charlotte straightened a little, keeping herself professional, tossing her short blue hair as she corrected her glasses. "It isn't an easy answer," she began, "so—"

I hated it when people acted calm around me like that. Like I was supposed to just sit back and accept whatever they were going to tell me, like a good girl in class. Adults would do that. The Swollen Eyeball Board would do that. They'd talk down to me in a way that they thought would make me believe that they weren't considering me an inexperienced child. Oh, I had experience. I'd raised myself, thank you. I knew when people were lying. I knew when people where hiding secrets. And I Goddamn knew when people had _some fucking clue as to where my brother was._

"Then start fucking _talking!" _I shouted at Charlotte, clenching both hands into fists to assure her that I was not afraid to strike a second time.

"Gaz!" A new voice, this one slightly more welcome. I glanced up. My roommate. She'd never cared much for Dib, but I valued whatever she'd say to me much more than anything I'd get out of any of the other crazies around me. Before I knew it, my feet were carrying me past the still-stunned Charlotte Baudelaire, and I threw my arms around Lex. She was quick to reciprocate the awkward hug, though she kept her guard up, which I appreciated. "Gaz, I..."

"Start... talking..." I demanded as tears swelled my eyes and choked my voice. I dug my nails into Lex's back. Even though I trusted her a little, everyone but Dib was still my enemy. Until someone could give me something resembling a straight answer, I'd be wary. "You. Your dad. Everyone. You're all going to start talking."

Lex winced, but didn't let go of me. "All right," she said, in her soothing London accent. "Thank God we finally can." Whatever the hell that meant. "Call a meeting."

"Huh?"

"Your fool brother is away, isn't he?" she asked. I nodded into her shoulder, then was instantly afraid that I appeared a little weak. But she and Charlotte were both still holding back. "It's either you in charge," Lex continued, "or my father, if you'll have it."

I yanked myself back and glared fire up at her. _"I'm_ in charge?" I screamed. Oh, my evening was going from bad to worse. In charge of the Corporation? In charge of this international group of paranormal-obsessed scientists? No fucking thank you. I went from missing Dib, in that moment, to being angry at him for being gone.

Lex looked like she was carrying the guilt of the world. "I... I'll call my father, then. He'll know what to—"

"No," I interrupted, even against my own best judgment. "No, wait." Rushed decisions were not my forte. If I had the option of being in charge, shouldn't I take it? Take control? Of... okay, no. Bad idea. But before I relinquished the seat I'd supposedly come into in Dib's absence, I wanted answers. I wanted a library full of answers. "Well," I said, stepping back away from Lex completely. "Yes," I decided. "Meeting."

"All right," said Charlotte from behind us, all business again. "Where, when, and regarding whom?"

I turned to glare and snarl at her. I really, really did not like that woman. At least not at that moment. Oh, I was sure she was a pleasant person. But she was a pleasant person who kept secrets. And that made her annoying. "Everyone!" I shouted at her. "Fucking everyone! I don't know! Just make everyone get in that small room, and you'd better make damn sure Tenn and Nacea show up!"

Okay. No, I didn't _want_ to talk to Tenn and Nacea, but I had to. There was a chance that they knew what was going on in whatever areas the secretive Board didn't. Plus, as much as I didn't want to ask her for help, I had to admit that Nacea could be useful to me. She and Dib had whatever the hell kind of spooky Meekrob bond that they had, so maybe, I thought, I could use her as some kind of homing signal. The Board could tell me what was going on with Dib. Nacea could actually possibly find him.

As Charlotte left to go gather the troops, as it were, Lex took me by the arm into the front kitchen, and sat me down on one of the barstools while she boiled a kettle of water for tea. I protested and told her that I didn't want tea, that tea couldn't help, that nothing would help, but she insisted that I should at least try whatever it was she was making. It wasn't as much a tea, she said, as an herbal tisane, a concoction of flowers in a little silk satchel that she rolled up herself and steeped into two cups of the boiling water once it was ready.

"White lily and jasmine," she told me, sliding one of the ceramic mugs over to me. I wrinkled my nose and glared at the cup. "Try it, you'll like it."

"How do you know?" I spat. I wrapped my hands around the mug and let the warmth fill me. That much, at least, felt somewhat reassuring. I didn't like physical contact with other people, but feeling warm was a welcome sensation.

Lex paused, then said, staring down at her own tea, tapping one bitten-at fingernail on the cup to make a slight, nervous clinking noise, "You used to."

I glared at her, even though she wasn't looking at me. "What?" I demanded.

My roommate drew in a deep breath, and lifted her head, her green eyes utterly impossible to read. "Gaz, I want to prepare you before we go into the meeting," she said. "I've no idea how many people will show up, but I suggest that you cut the number down, so that only those in the know are present. I'll start off by saying that, er, well... a lot of these people used to run in the same circles as your family. I don't even really know everything, but it's only fair that I tell you I remember you a little."

"Remember me?" I asked, totally aghast. "From when?"

"When our fathers were friends."

I was forced to be confused about that for a little while longer, since at that point, Charlotte found us in the kitchen and ushered us back into the Board meeting room. I brought my tea with me and kept subtly trying to inhale just the wafting scent, to see if it sparked anything familiar. I also began wondering if anyone, over the years, had tried to manipulate my memory, since I certainly couldn't remember knowing anyone named Haynsworth before. Then again, that had to have been when I was only three years old, and younger. Lex, being four years older than me, would obviously remember more, if what she told me was true.

I decided that the greatest offender to the past was my father. This was confirmed the second the meeting started. I sat in my brother's chair, surrounded by every single Board member, most of whom I cared so little about I wanted to strangle all of them for thinking they were important enough to be there, talking about something so personal to me. Sure, the crisis of my brother being gone was something that affected everyone, but for the most part, the ordeal was way too damn personal for that many people to be around me.

We discussed the basics, the fact that I was in charge unless I decided otherwise. Which I did. Very early on in the meeting, I looked over at Professor Haynsworth, who sat only three seats to my right, and told him I wanted him to handle things once the meeting was over. He was a professional, after all. I had no idea what I was doing, what was happening, who I was (apparently), and where I was supposed to go from here... especially emotionally. I was then tediously introduced to the other Agents, and briefed on what they did. I didn't care. I wanted to learn about Dib. Tenn and Nacea, too, were looking around, wondering why they were there. So maybe it had been my fault to tell Charlotte to call 'fucking everyone.'

They asked me things. Things I couldn't answer. Things I wanted them to answer for me. Where was my brother? Why the sudden meeting? What skills did I have, other than the ability to know my brother better than any of them did? I told them all to shut up and that I didn't ask to be his next in line and to leave me alone and go to Haynsworth with their problems.

The Senior Agents around the table all exchanged worried, but knowing glances. Then, as if the tension in the room could get no thicker, Charlotte Baudelaire stood, bowing her head. "In all of our best interests, I'm going to call this portion of the meeting to a close," she announced. I glared at her, and she shook her head, trying to assure me that she knew what she was doing. Turns out, this time, she did. "You are all dismissed, except for the following: Agents Cthulhu and Bloodrose. Professor Haynsworth. Alexandria Haynsworth. Gaz Membrane. Tenn and Nacea. Everyone else, thank you for your time. Once our second meeting has wrapped, we will let you know how we plan to continue."

Well, that was nice of her to read my mind on that one.

One by one, the other Agents shuffled out of the room, muttering amongst themselves. The last to leave was General Brakem, who asked something of Charlotte in a low, private tone. Charlotte, I noticed, whispered something back about, "Please be patient." Brakem then left, stone-faced as he always was, his eyes unreadable behind his red-tinted glasses.

And then it was just the eight of us. I kept my head down. My heart was pounding. I had no idea what to do, or how to feel, or what to think. I twisted Zim's ring neurotically around my finger. Now would be a _really good time_ to make good on his promise. I really needed someone, and nobody around here quite fit the bill.

Even so, I felt a strong set of hands on my shoulders, and I looked up to see Professor Haynsworth standing over me. He smiled kindly, not sadly in the least, and the gesture prompted me to just let go. Anger faded, sadness set in. We still hadn't addressed the main problem: where the hell my brother had gone and why. I stood and, just needing _some_one, hugged him. I barely knew the man, but something about him was fine and familiar, something about him put me at ease and made me feel welcome.

His musk smelled of white lily and jasmine.

My head was a cloud, but I made at least that connection. I pulled back and let go, realizing what I'd done. I'd just hugged someone. _I_ had just _hugged someone._ For the second time that evening. Both members of the Haynsworth family, in fact. I stared up at the Professor, and ran through every thought I'd ever had about him. Just that he was nice... that he made me feel calm... that I wished my father could be like him, that he made me think of my ideal image of a father...

The Professor's smile stayed on, and he stepped back, allowing me my space. "This isn't going to be a meeting," he assured me. "It's a panel."

"A—a panel?" I wondered.

"Treat us as you would any panel at all," said the Professor. "Ask us anything. The rule is that we must answer."

I frowned. "Why only now are you doing this?" I demanded.

"Because we're on the cusp of your brother's fourteenth birthday," the Professor answered, rather dolefully. "Believe me when I say that none of us has lived these past ten years knowing exactly what to expect. We were only ever told that they day would be of importance."

"Told by whom?" I asked. I wanted to be so much more forceful than I sounded.

"Why don't you sit down?" the Professor said, gesturing back to my seat. "It's probably for the best if you do."

I couldn't argue that, so I slumped back down in Dib's chair, and stared at the tea Lex had made for me. Twisting Zim's ring around my finger again, I tried to turn my brain on. It wasn't like I'd ever shut it off, but I'd at least been keeping a lot of things shut out for a while. Apparently, I'd been closing myself off from the world for far longer than I could even remember. I'd only really started reflecting again after Dib had told me to start writing journals. Only when my pen touched paper in the interest of getting out my thoughts for the first time did I start obsessing over the enigmatic presence in my memory that was my mother.

"So," said Tenn, as the 'panel' shuffled in their seats, "why're me and Nacea here again?"

"Cuz I need answers from you, too," I snapped at her. I wasn't angry at her, really. I was just frustrated with everything. I was weaving like crazy between frustrated and depressed, and angry and lost. "Especially you," I added, pointing to Nacea, who sat at the end of the row to my left, beside Tenn, who in turn was sitting next to Agents Bloodrose and Cthulhu.

"Me?" the little Meekrob girl asked innocently.

"Where's Dib?" I asked her.

"If only I knew!" Nacea lamented, her blue, blue eyes wide and stunned. Well, this wasn't good. "I cannot feel him anywhere! It is as though he vanished from this plane..."

"He's not dead!" I screamed at her. "I followed him! He got shut in that room at the end of the hall, and then you," I hollered at Charlotte, "stopped me from going in!"

"Gaz, I apologize for my actions there," said Charlotte, as Professor Haynsworth gave her a testing look, shaming her for not handling things better, "but the truth is, I couldn't have opened that room if I tried."

"Why not?"

"I don't have the key."

"Dib said you did!" I argued.

"I don't," Charlotte told me strongly, her eyes sharp behind her tinted glasses. "I just know where it's kept, when it's here. Otherwise, there's only one person in the entire Corporation that has access to that room."

"Yeah, you!"

"No," she half-growled at me.

"Who, then?"

"Your mother." Agent Cthulhu had spoken up, and I whipped my head round to glare at him. Cthulhu was not the kind of guy I'd want to meet up with in a dark alley. In fact, he wasn't really the type of guy I'd want to meet up with at all. He scared me, mainly because he was always so silent, which didn't fit his large, toned frame. I tried to remember whether or not he was ex-military, then remembered that I didn't care. I did care, though, that he'd brought my mother up so easily. And that nobody was fighting him.

I glanced at Tenn and Nacea. They looked as confused as I was, if not more. I actually shrugged at Tenn at this point, and she tensed up. I hadn't thought an Irken could get that worried, but Tenn and my brother really were friends. Despite the fact that Dib had just basically beat her up for no reason other than the fact that he was angry at how his life was going, she cared about him, and he cared about her. There was trust between them, as there is always a certain amount of trust between friends. Which is probably why I don't really have any. People have always judged me right from the start and have decided I'm untrustworthy, so in return, I've wanted nothing to do with them.

So why did it seem okay when the Haynsworths spoke so kindly to me? Why, when Charlotte bothered me so much, did I hold back a bit? If she'd been anyone else, I may have clawed her eyes out. But that was the thing. Part of me knew her. Part of me knew the Haynsworths. I doubted any previous contact with Cthulhu and Bloodrose, but who was I to say? Last my father ever interacted with anyone was when Mom was around anyway.

"How do you know my mother?" I hissed at Cthulhu. "Why would she have a key to anywhere in here?"

"Your mother, Gaz, co-founded this Corporation," Professor Haynsworth told me calmly. "It was your father's life's work."

"Dad hates the paranormal," I told the Professor, eyeing him cautiously.

The well-learned man folded his hands on the table, and beside him, his daughter sipped her tea. Lex was looking more and more somber as the night went on. She was the closest thing to a friend I had at the time being, so I wanted her to open up more than anyone. I had a feeling all of the secrecy was most of the reason she acted so uptight. She'd even told me that she hated keeping secrets.

"Gaz, your father and I once were colleagues," the Professor went on, keeping his eyes kindly fixed on mine. "In fact, everyone at this table, these two aside—" and here he gestured to Tenn and Nacea— "once knew and worked alongside your parents, in order to realize the potential of this network of paranormal experts. My daughter, as you know, grew up immersed in it. Had things been different for you and your brother, perhaps you would have watched this network grow, as well."

Way to lay it all on me. I'm such a sponge, though, I just sat there and absorbed it. This was just one more thing to be mad at Dad about. Just one more level of strangeness surrounding my mother's departure. I looked from the Professor to Lex, who set her tea down and attempted to smile a little.

"Sorry I've not been, well... the best of company," Lex apologized. "It's... I've mostly been angry at your father for not—"

"Ugh, who _isn't_ angry at my dad?" I groaned. "He never tells anyone anything! If this was his life's work, why'd he..?" I trailed off. Nothing was making sense. It was hard enough to believe that my overworked father had any interest in the paranormal at all, let alone that he would establish an organization like the one I had so recently found myself caught up in. Whatever. I could deal with that later. I wanted to know how Dib was going to react to that news, or if, somehow, he already knew. And that was the main problem, here. "So, where's Dib?" I asked the panel. Silence. I slammed my palms on the table. "WHERE THE FUCK IS MY BROTHER?" I screamed.

"We don't know!" Agent Bloodrose spoke up. Nacea cupped her hands over her mouth in shock, and Tenn slumped down in her seat, looking almost guilty, as if she could have prevented him from leaving. She was one of the last people he'd been in contact with, after all. Lex and her father remained stoic, and approachably human. Charlotte and Cthulhu were all business, yes, but even they looked a bit disturbed.

"Then what's the point of this Goddamn meeting?" I shouted. "I want to know where Dib is! I want to know what you know, and I want to know how to get him back!"

"Again," said Professor Haynsworth, stopping any uprising from starting with the tone of his gliding voice, "we were only told of the significance surrounding Dib's fourteenth birthday. Your father, too, I've no doubt, has been living in a frightful anticipation of the tenth anniversary of your mother's leaving."

"Okay, back up," I snarled. "Mom left ten years ago, the day before Dib turned four. She and Dad started this Corporation. And she's the only person with a key to the creepy room at the end of the hall. What _is_ that room, and why was—" Another whiff of that lily and jasmine tea, and suddenly it came together. My eyes pried themselves wide open, and my next thought came out in a whisper: "Mom's here?"

"She was, at any rate," said the Professor, with a sigh. "I only ever heard of her plan from your father. I've not actually spoken to Miyuki in years. Oh—" He caught himself, and pressed his lips together to keep from speaking.

But that first slip went unnoticed in my mind. Because I was more furious than curious. "Mom's here," I shouted, "and she only talked to Dib? Not me?"

"There was something detailed in her plan that involves your fourteenth birthday, as well," said Charlotte, as if that was supposed to reassure me.

"Dad..." Lex prompted, setting a hand on her father's arm.

The Professor nodded, prompting me to look at him again. As soon as I caught his gaze, I heard in the back of my mind what he'd said. What he'd really said. "Did you just..." I started to ask him.

Tenn finished my sentence for me. "Sir," she said, sitting up straight again. "Professor. You. Did you just say 'Miyuki?'"

"I did," Professor Haynsworth confirmed. "I'm sorry. I spoke before the question was asked."

"That was my mother's name?" I wondered. "Miy... oh... no. Nope. No. No."

"I know you humans can share names sometimes," said Tenn, her guard coming back up, "but we Irkens don't. There's only one Miyuki. Or was. She's dead. Before he went blank, Zim killed her."

"To our knowledge," said the Professor somberly, "that death was a cover."

"NO!" I cried out.

"That doesn't make any sense!" Tenn shouted, jumping to her feet.

No. It didn't make any sense. Because Zim _had_ killed Tallest Miyuki. Or so he had been told.

_Or so he had been told._

The lies had been building up on his end, too..?

Plus... _plus..._ "I'm leaving," I snapped, standing as well.

"You wanted the truth," Agent Bloodrose tried. And failed.

"Not the truth that says I'm—" I couldn't finish the sentence. "The truth that says—I'm—"

"Gaz," Lex said, her attempt a little bit better but still unwelcome, "I'm so sorry we..."

"I," I began, glaring around the table, "hate all of you. Professor Haynsworth, I retract my previous statement. I'm still in charge."

The guilt-addled Professor nodded, his green eyes tired behind his thin wire glasses. Once again, lovely person, not a time I'd think that. "I understand," he said. "Please, though, Gaz, talk to me if at any time you feel the need."

My mind was such a fucking mess. Why couldn't my own father have been more like that? More approachable? Kinder? Oh, right, maybe because he'd decided to marry a woman who used to be Irken and then left him because she couldn't handle a double life or something like that. Yeah. Something like that.

Fuck.

"This meeting's over," I said, my voice broken. "I don't know and I don't care when we continue, but I want more answers later. I want... I want every single one of you to stop hiding shit from me, and I want you to assemble this panel again the _second Dib comes back!"_

"We don't know when that will be—" Charlotte began.

"Then, fuck!" My eyes were dry and shot, and I could no longer form any words. Everything was beyond belief. I had to get out of that room, that much was certain, so I did. Without another word, I turned and left, and rushed down the halls and into my room. I slammed the door behind me, dropped my stolen photograph of my liar of a mother into the top drawer of my dresser, slammed the drawer shut and threw myself onto my bed. And screamed into my pillow.

When screaming wasn't satisfying enough, I bit it, and then all I could do was heave out sobs. They weren't for me, though. They weren't for me, or my brother, or any of the rest of my broken family.

They were for the fact that the first person in years to say that he loved me had been lied to. I cried for the person who had given me the ring that now seemed to be burning an imprint onto my skin. Zim had told me things I'd never heard anyone else ever say. He'd made me feel important. He'd made me feel attractive, and interesting. Like I had a purpose. And I'd liked that. I'd liked him. I'd liked the ways he showed affection, the way he spoke to me, the way I could forget my usual immoderate hatred toward the world and appreciate something for once.

He had also told me that I had reminded him of someone. Of the Irken Miyuki.

No kidding.

How the hell was I supposed to love and accept the human he'd written that he wanted to be, when all the future held in store for me was a fourteenth birthday visit from my supposedly dead-by-his-hands Irken Tallest mother?

– – –

– – –

**Author's Note:**

Ahaha… Gaz swears a lot. So, off to a bit of a start, here… Dib's narration will return next week, and then things will really get going! ^^ I love writing the sort of parallel journeys Zim and Dib find themselves on… I hope you're enjoying what's unfolding so far! :3

There's so much to come! I'm happy to be diving back into updates now! _Transitions_ will update again next **Friday, July 22****nd****!**

See you then! :3

~Jizena~

– – –


	3. Training 1: Electricity

– – –

**Author's Note:**

_Invader Zim_ is -c- Jhonen Vasquez! Only the events of this story, characters specific to the story, and character tweaking (heh) are mine. :3

~Jizena~

– – –

_Dib's Records_

I wanted to feel uncomfortable.

More than that, more than anything, I wanted to be angry. But I wasn't. I just—wasn't.

Yet.

I couldn't quite tell why, either. I kept telling myself that, maybe, I'd used up all my anger earlier in the day. I felt horrible for that, too. I'd been... actually, quite an asshole lately, for lack of a better word. But there was plenty to blame that on. Turning fourteen. Leading an underground Corporation. Taking charge of my 'household.' Normal things.

So when it came down to the weird stuff, I became ambivalent. I took with a grain of salt the fact that Miyuki had, in seconds, transported me from the odd comfort of SEC Headquarters to, instead, a space, black all around but for a greyish haze beneath my feet on which we cast no shadows, which smelled of winter but was not cold.

Finally, fear hit me, with a shiver down my spine. It happened when I turned to look at Miyuki again, when I saw her standing there like a memory, wearing my mother's smile but lacking the radiance I recalled. I saw love in her green eyes, love and worry, but mixed in as well was a coldness reminiscent of that displayed in the eyes of a hardened soldier.

If there was a time for a heartfelt reunion, it was not now. My mother was to become my drill sargeant. I was to train under her watch, until I could accept the latent skills granted me by my Irken blood.

Fear.

I wasn't human. Not entirely.

I felt like a hypocrite—no, a failure.

To shut my mind up, I spoke. "Where are we?" I asked Miyuki, taking a look around in hopes of spotting a change of scenery somewhere. No luck.

"Somewhere all too familiar to me," Miyuki answered. Despite her admitted familiarity with it, she seemed neither displeased nor delighted to be there. "I have passed through here often... sometimes intentionally, at other times not. But this is where we'll begin."

"My training," I repeated, from earlier. I was not eager to start. In fact, I was more reluctant that I'd ever been to do just about anything. The threat Miyuki had mentioned was enough to get me to give it a shot, though. Irken PAKs are parasites. It killed me to think that the Brains could control me if I didn't learn to deal. "How long'll this take?"

"One week, at most."

"A week?" I snapped. "You said it wouldn't take long!"

"Would you rather go through training on Devastis?" Miyuki bit back at me, walking a few steps away, ahead of me and to my right, into more oddly illuminated darkness. "Proper Irken training takes years, as one is sent on missions and inundated with histories and Armada drills. You need only the basics, as you possess the blood of an Irken Tallest. Tell me, dear, what you already know."

I really wanted to fight her, but for the moment, I was feeling awkwardly compliant. To show that I was still on the fence, though, I folded my arms and squared my back, so that I could look confident even if I didn't feel that way. "I know how to pilot Irken ships," I told Miyuki. "I taught myself. I can rewire Irken machinery, reroute incryptions, translate Irken to English using binary code, uh... as for other stuff, I know about the Armada ship class rankings, who the current Tallest are, and that for a race that eats as much snack food as it does, the Irkens are all for the most part really skinny."

Miyuki laughed at the last part. "You are indeed observant," she complimented me. "And about PAKs? Anything?"

"That they're parasitic computers attached to an organic host, and they store information and can do a bunch of other stuff like shoot lasers and things like that."

"Very good," Miyuki smiled. After a moment, she brought things right around to a subject I really had not expected her to bring up: "You have your father's spark of intuition in you."

That hit a sour note, and I immediately became cross. "Can I say something right now?" I said, planning on plowing through and saying it no matter what Miyuki's response was going to be. "I have fought, my whole life, to be my own person. Dad and I are on opposing wavelengths. I hate him, and he hates me. I'm not very fond of you, either," I added.

And thus, fear turned to rage and hatred. This was going to be a very, very interesting week.

"Oh," was all Miyuki said to my previous comment.

"Yeah," I snapped back. My hands fell to my sides and curled in to form fists. The darkness around us seemed to speak volumes about my mother's absence. We'd all been in the dark about her for years, but I was pretty sure that what she'd told me meant that she'd been here the whole damn time. "Look, the novelty of meeting you has kinda worn off. There's a bunch of stuff I'm not really ready to forgive you for."

Miyuki was like a stone statue. She was void of emotion, slate and hollow. Not the woman who had filled our house with music, not the woman who once had fueled my interest in the paranormal. My mind buzzed with a million _whys._ But Miyuki addressed none of them. Her lilac hair fell in almost planned wisps and strands around her; her appearance read nothing but wanderlust. She had it painted all over her. She hadn't chosen this void over us, had she? If she had, fuck her. Before taking one more step forward in training, I had to know. Or at least ask.

"Aren't you," I prompted, "you know... going to say anything?"

"What about?" Miyuki wondered.

"About wha—about why you _left!"_ I erupted, reeling. "Why, ten years ago, you just up and _left us!_ Why you never checked back in! I—"

"Hmm... this is good," said Miyuki, touching her hand to her chin in scholarly contemplation. Bitch was _studying_ me!—or at least my anger. The next thing she said was, "Use that."

"Use what?" I snipped.

"That frustration."

"What for?"

"Your attack."

_"What?"_

"Attack me," she said, bluntly. She extended her arms and added, "Come at me. Hit me with everything you have."

"I—but—" I started to protest, digging at my hair in annoyance, "you just—_no! No,_ I'm not gonna atta—_how?_ You haven't even started training me yet!"

Miyuki's expression contorted to reveal a haughty smirk. "Yes, I have," she argued. "I have just asked you to attack, have I not?"

"Oh, my _God,_ my parents suck!" I found it necessary to shout, not even particularly to her. The oft-uttered phrase of virtually every fourteen-year-old on Earth had probably never carried so much weight. "Seriously! You and Dad _suck_ as parents."

Miyuki's eyes hardened, and she said, her voice getting low and resonant, "I did not ask you to yell, dear, I asked you to attack."

"God! Fucking—_ugh,"_ I groaned, growling out a sigh. She'd provoked me enough, though, so without another word of complaint, I ran at her, the once-Irken woman whose inate skills had apparently passed to me. I threw a punch with my right hand, but she dodged and hit my exposed ribs.

I choked, but managed to grab her neck. Before I could calculate another move, however, Miyuki hit me in the chest with a blast of energy. I flew backward, hitting whatever the hell the 'ground' here was—that grey haze that also somehow lit up the place—and had to take in several gulps of air before my breath regulated.

Without giving me much time to stand, Miyuki then threw a blast of green light at me, very similar to the one I'd once demonstrated, the one that had gotten Nacea to yell at me. It was different, though—this one had intent. The intent was to knock me right off my feet, and it did just that. I held my hands out at the last second and, thanks to the agility I'd picked up from sparring with Tenn, I hit the ground with my hands only and was able to spring myself back up to standing after a pretty impressive (though highly accidental) backflip.

I had no time to celebrate the feat, however, as Miyuki sent another blast my way. This one I saw coming, so with quick effort and a deep breath, I held my hands out in front of me, concentrated on the energy in the air, and called up a large wall of contained energy to act as a shield in front of me.

Only after Miyuki's blast fizzled out in the wall I'd created did I pick up on how easy that had been. Easier than ever. Sure, it had been taking me some time to build up my Meekrob skills, but even then, I'd have to really concentrate on my breath and what I was reading from the air. Earth didn't provide me with much.

This place, though... it was the dimension that did it. The air wanted to be identified. It wanted to be manipulated. That sounds strange, but spaces have energy. This space was undisturbed, the temperature was moderate... in fact, this awful, sullen nothigness was the perfect place to be aware. Because there were no distractions. No wind changes, no bodies darting in and out. Just me and Miyuki. Just two moving targets.

Having figured that much out, I grinned. _Thanks for the power-up,_ I thought, as if I could send the words straight to Miyuki. I held one hand out to my side and let the air fill it with a solid orb of energy. Something in me wanted to test my limits, so I let it grow. I didn't feel tired, I did not feel drained.

I'd rarely called what the Meekrob had given me 'power' before, but that was exactly what this new version of energy manipulation felt like.

Power.

And I had so much, right at my fingertips.

Miyuki blasted me again, so I countered with another wall, this time attempting, and succeeding, with only one hand. Another blast—another wall. Another. Another. Another.

"Your defensive skills are trained well enough," Miyuki called over with her next attack, which I was able to dodge. "I've asked you to attack me!"

"I can't use Meekrob powers to attack!" I shouted back at her, putting up another wall. She almost got through that one, most likely because I was hesitating. Or because she'd been holding back before. Either, or both, seemed probable.

"We are not training Meekrob abilities, though I commend you for having learned at least that much!" said Miyuki. "If you have no willingness to train, dear, you'll be stuck here longer than I ever was."

"Would you shut _up?"_ I shouted, rushing at her.

I raised a hand to strike, and was blocked. Ignoring the fact that I was moving with intent to strike and best my own mother, I got in a swift kick to the ribs, which sent her flying. She landed, however, right on her feet, smiled, and said, "That was hardly an attack, darling."

"Shut it with the terms of endearment!" I hollered. "I hate you, remember?"

"Then attack as if you do."

"SHUT UP!"

My fingers itched to collect more energy, but I denied myself the opportunity, instead taking to the physical route again. I threw strike after strike with my fists, but Miyuki could block, dodge, and counter all of them. The air around me began to feel like a strong pressure against my skin—it ticked, and twinged, and stung my fingertips.

_"There is a static around you,"_ Nacea had told me.

Static, huh? An electric surge.

Friction.

I didn't need a flint, necessarily... the air provided enough of a second source to make a spark. To test out the static theory, I held my right hand out to my side and cricked my wrist back, splayed my fingers, and ticked my hand forward a couple of times against the thickening air. A heat rose from my palm, and was oddly enough echoed in a small spot on my back, between my shoulderblades. Ignoring that part, I glanced down at my hand and watched myself gather there not a colorless light, but a glowing blue orb of static energy, made of the air's electricity and my own rage.

If my hand had been the flint, my breath was still the trigger. I scanned the area in front of me until my eyes locked onto Miyuki, several feet away. "Blue?" she laughed. "That suits you."

"Whatever the hell that's supposed to mean," I growled. My vision went temporarily red as I drew in a deep breath and shot the newly collected energy straight at Miyuki. It hit her square on, and she took the hit—it knocked her to the ground, a good few yards away. For once, I'd succeeded.

But why stop there?

I found myself laughing, and utterly ignoring the fact that my vision blurred for a moment as a red veil seemed to be lifted away from my eyes. I shrugged that off as nothing of concern, since the static energy exerted even more pressure now than before, and I wanted to take full advantage of it. As I rushed at Miyuki, this time gathering static in both hands, using the force of running as the source for the spark, I even forgot what I was angry about.

And that, because I had graduated into pure, blind rage, made me somehow capable of an even stronger attack this time. The force of the blast from both hands could possibly have killed someone who wasn't prepared to take it. Or, you know, a Tallest.

The red film over my eyes had reappeared during the attack, and this time I had to physically shake it. When I opened my eyes again, the reality of what I'd just done hit me. My vision restored, I made myself stop by heaving out a sigh, dispelling any extra gathered electricity back into the air from which I had borrowed it. I looked around for Miyuki, who had been thrown a good distance again after that last attack, and the truth settled in further.

Seeing her so defenseless, as she picked herself up, I saw my mother again. I'd been purposely separating 'then' and 'now' in my head, since I hardly felt an attachment to Miyuki at all. But I still felt awful. Sure, I'd thrown some awful punches at Tenn before while we were sparring, and yes, I'd gladly attacked Zim and Tak plenty of times in the past, but this was different. That hadn't been a physical attack; it had been everything.

It took a couple minutes to catch my breath, primarily due to shock. Trembling, I turned my head slowly so that I could gaze in awe at my hands. When I upturned my palms, a faint blue glow could still be seen surrounding them for a moment, before the light itself evaporated entirely. How had my hands... how had _I..._ done something so—incredible? Yes, logistically, I'd worked it out. Static. Energy. But that heat from my back had replaced the inner warmth that rose up during Meekrob energy readings. It was almost as if I hadn't been in control of what I'd done at all.

"How did I do that?" I found myself whispering. While I am known to talk out loud to myself (frequently, I might add), this question was directed at Miyuki, since she most likely had the answer. Almost afraid to do so, I looked back at her again and held my hands out, helpless to explain the feat I had just achieved. "Miyuki, how did I do that?" I asked her. "Nacea never taught me that. I—I accidentally used Meekrob skills for an attack once, and she ate me out for it. No way was that..." I shook my head. "That was..."

"An attack indeed," said Miyuki, looking, oddly enough, proud as she walked over toward me. "A first-hand move, and well-done for your first try."

"But I wasn't trying!" I insisted. The weight of the attack now was bringing my initial fear back. The fear of what I was capable of. The fear of what I was.

"Yes, you were."

"I think I know my mind better than you," I argued, finally dropping my hands as I glared at her. "I wasn't trying to do something that huge."

"But you were trying to attack," Miyuki corrected me. With a flick of her wrist, a glowing ball of blue energy appeared in her own upturned right palm. "Reading energy is a simple trick most species across galaxies can accomplish. Even hyperaware humans are capable of such things. You are naturally hyperaware, which accounts for the strong reaction you were able to have when you gained Meekrob skills. Accepting those gifts was a bold and correct decision, Dib; I am proud of you for that.

"This," she went on, snuffing out the light in order to gesture to the blackness around us, "is a place cut off from the laws of the four dimensions that rule most planets. Here, there is no order. There is, in fact, nothing. Nothing restraining inner ability. Nothing restraining hyperawareness. Here, your power will manifest to its fullest. Once back on Earth, you will be under the restraints of the planet, and therefore must train harder after you finish here."

"So," I translated, "what just happened was... like... what I'm working up to?"

"Darling, that was only the beginning."

"The hell _else_ is there?" I shouted. "Seriously, that was _insane_ what I just did! It was explosive, destructive, it... well, it was..."

"Irken," Miyuki offered.

I paused. My brain froze. My heart froze. "Yeah," I answered, my voice detached. If there was one thing Irkens could do right, it was obliterate. Destroy completely. They were fighters, all of them, no matter how inept. "But... how? I mean... I've never seen an Irken do something like that before. They always need..." Oh, no way in hell was I finishing that sentance.

So Miyuki finished it for me. "Yes," she offered, "a PAK."

When I was a kid, just starting out learning about Irkens and the Invasion and all, I thought PAKs were kind of cool. What ten-year-old boy wouldn't? But as I began to learn more about them, and as I grew up, the concept became a little more frightening. A computerized organ that governs thought is a terrifying thing indeed. A parasite. A replacement for something like a conscience.

I thought back to the Incident again and how Zim had changed so quickly once his PAK nearly dissolved in its entirety and was replaced by a conscience. Had the same thing happened to Miyuki? It was probable. Highly probable. But she said she'd 'earned a soul,' as well. How was a soul different from a conscience? And what did she mean by _earning_ one..?

No time to postulate that, though, since the matter at hand was relating to something quite the opposite. I already had a conscience and soul (as far as I knew), so I figured I was safe. But the hold the Control Brains had was over anyone with a PAK. Meaning...

"It is an Irken's primary source of power," said Miyuki, touching a hand to my back. The action made me snap my eyes open, as if I—or something about me—had just been shaken awake. There was an unexplainable frigidity in Miyuki's touch, or perhaps even in my spine. "You were born—"

"Don't say it," I warned her, knowing that she'd continue anyway.

"—with this enhancement of ability as well."

Her hand, placed strategically between my shoulderblades, where on an Irken the PAK was attached, seemed to radiate heat. For a moment, I felt as if I'd never been granted Meekrob abilities at all, as if I'd never been oddly astute for a human. That heat forced me to feel like I was in control of something far greater than anything that had previously been within my reach.

That heat momentarily stole my humanity. That heat that was the source of the attack I'd just been able to throw.

I forced a shiver, and then a real one ran through me. The thought was paralyzing. "No!" I snapped. "Get off me!"

"I—"

_"No,"_ I repeated firmly, whirling around to glare at her. "Stop for a second and _shut up._ Let's keep one thing clear, okay?" I prodded Miyuki in the sternum with each of the following words for emphasis: _"I. HATE. IRKENS."_ Stepping back, I added, "That _includes you._ I don't want this. I didn't _fucking ask for this!_ I don't want to be Irken. I already have a life, or at least I thought I did. I really just... _really_ hate you right now."

"Dib—"

"Just... shut up." I shrugged her off. That said, I turned my back on her and began walking away.

"Listen to me," that dulcet Finnish glide called after me, "I—"

"Leave me alone," I spat back. Fully aware that I had literally nowhere to go, I continued walking until even that bored me. Fed up, with lies and truths alike, I stopped short and dropped to the ground, where I sat cross-legged and tried to meditate, as Nacea had taught me. When even that didn't work, I hung my head and let my mind become muddled with thoughts and memories of ten years of doubt and uncertainty. Of four years of building up an Irken defense, only to have my secure wall torn down and breached.

I was my enemy.

What the hell was I supposed to do now?

It wasn't long before Miyuki appeared and sat down beside me. Cautiously, she set her right hand on my shoulder. I shivered, but didn't shake her off. As long as we were here, in this nothing dimension, in this cell detached from known reality, I couldn't shake her away even if I tried.

"I left," said Miyuki, gently squeezing my shoulder, her voice much softer now, as it was in my memories, "because of an unforeseen tragedy that even I could do nothing about. Your father and I both panicked, and so I left. I returned here, and in my sorry state locked myself here for several years."

"And I'm guessing you didn't tell Dad," I muttered. I almost felt sorry for the bastard. I'd been right... he really had gone crazy after she'd walked out.

"I did not," Miyuki confirmed. After a slight pause, she added, "I have been known to act irrationally."

I snorted out a laugh. "Yeah, me, too," I admitted. May as well accept now that I had indeed been born with qualities my mother, too, possessed. From irrationality to energy-fueled light cannons.

Miyuki patted my shoulder twice, then retracted her hand, which she folded over the other, both long-fingered and pale, her nails precise, her skin so like my sister's. They looked stark against the modest dark skirt of her dress that flowed over her crossed legs. "I cannot blame you for hating me," she said, which seemed almost out of the blue. "I am the source of many a contemptible thing. For my first several years on Earth, I all but ignored the Empire I so recently had come from. I was cut off, I had done it to myself, as I had found love." That part didn't make sense in my head still. How my parents had connected. How Miyuki had even come to be on Earth at all. I was sure those things would be told to me in time, but I was a very impatient person. After all, I'd been either ignored or lied to my entire life. A guy can be skeptical. Hearing Miyuki actually talk about this part of her life was nice, though. It made her seem at least a little human. "Only when the accident happened did I regret not keeping track of time, and of the Empire," Miyuki continued gravely.

"What accident?" I wondered.

Miyuki sighed out on a hum. "That is not for you to know, yet," she said.

I groaned. "Figures."

My response caused Miyuki to be quiet for a little while, and then, still rather to my surprise, she asked, "Tell me about you, dear. Tell me what you have been doing. You've inherited the Network, of course. And looked after your sister well, I trust?"

"I... y-yeah, as best I can, anyway," I answered. "On both those things." Guilt hit me when I thought about my sister. I hadn't said a damn thing to her before I'd left with Miyuki. She really didn't deserve all this sneaking around from me. Hell, I was as bad as anyone else around us back on Earth... being gone for random intervals, keeping things from her—back when I hadn't confided in her everything I'd learned about Zim—and leaving her to her own devices. Resolve struck me again, and I took in a deep breath. "I've gotta get back," I said, moving to stand. "Soon. So Gaz won't hate me."

"You are ready to begin?" Miyuki guessed, on her feet in a delicate second. She moved so seamlessly, so fluidly. I then remembered that the Irken Tallest have, historically, been known to glide, rather than walk.

"Let's just get this over with," I said before I could change my mind. "Let's make me impervious to Brain control, and, uh... figure out that blast thing again."

"All right," said my mentor in return. "Let's see what you can do."

– – –

– – –

**Author's Note:**

Hello! Profoundest apologies for the late chapter this week! :( It came in the form of both a light schedule and a bit of a brain block, unfortunately. When I edit, sometimes I look over an old chapter and want to just plain re-write it. XD Aaaand, that was this week's case, but I'm happy with the way the new edit turned out; sorry again for the lateness!

Thank you all sososo much for the reviews and comments for the first couple of chapters! :D I'm so excited that you're sticking around for Part Two… so many fun things to come!

RavenFollower13: Thank you for the note on marking Changes 'Complete!' I can see how that would be confusing; I've switched the status now. ^^ And a reunion is on the way, but with time… :3

Next week, I'm hoping to post with at least two chapters (maybe three!), since I'm so excited to get the fun that lies within Part Two underway…! See you next **Friday, July 29****th****!** (It's almost August and that is blowing my mind. Also the heat is blowing my mind… I live in coastal New England and it's been over 100°F… I hope everyone's staying cool in this heat wave…)

~Jizena~

– – –


	4. Summer Heat 2: Secrets and Revelations

– – –

**Author's Note:**

_Invader Zim_ is -c- Jhonen Vasquez! Only the events of this story, characters specific to the story, and character tweaking (heh) are mine. :3

~Jizena~

– – –

_Zim's Records_

"It's too hot," Red complained. We'd set off again, in some direction or other (GIR said it was west, but I doubted his built-in navigation system; I was pretty sure we were more likely going south), and the lack of good nourishment was really starting to get to all of us. Worse still was indeed the heat. We kept close to the stream, but it seemed that day that we were making much more frequent stops for water and cooling down. It didn't help that we'd been walking all day and there were so few trees around for shade.

"I know, sir," I said, leading on and trying to ignore his childish complaints.

"Fix it."

"GIR doesn't have an air conditioning unit, so I can't," I muttered.

"But you know where we are."

I groaned and ran my hands through my hair. I did not want my annoyance at Red cause me to snap and lash out at him, but in the heat, I was becoming more and more provoked. I wanted one thing. To get back to Gaz, whatever that took. All we could do, though, was walk. I'd sent GIR ahead at one point, but his rocket fuel ran out and we ended up catching up to him about twenty minutes later. So much for that.

"Sir," I tried to placate the incorrigible Tallest, "I'm not entirely sure of our location; I can only safely say that this is Earth and that sooner or later we'll hit a town. Okay?"

"You're fired," Red grunted at me for that.

"Whatever," I sighed. I was utterly fed up. Wandering around with the Tallest made me feel like I had to take a step back in my own planning, and it worsened in the unyielding sun. It was nice to have company, but I had absolutely no way to shake them.

Red, showing frustration in his own, more angry, way, stormed up beside me and hissed, "Don't you talk to me like that, Zim, I'm still your superior."

_ "And,_ I think we're done for today!" Purple announced, stopping in his tracks and clapping his hands together a couple of times. "Seems the only way I'm going to get away from both of your constant nagging is to go to sleep, so let's all just call it good for now."

"But sir, we—" I began.

"Shush, we're done!" Purple snapped. He looked furious, and I knew there was no arguing with him. After all, I knew just from that single instance that he could pack a punch... I wasn't about to provoke him.

Red, though, was just asking for it. I respected him, sure, but I knew I'd blow up at him sooner or later. He was being quite the thorn in my side, with the constant complaints and incessant talk of how much better his life was in the Empire. I'd learned to come back with short answers which sometimes he took as me agreeing with him and which sometimes he took as me rising up against him. Either way, we were getting on each other's nerves.

The whole trip we'd been forced to take was indeed irritating, but all in all it was revealing. We'd been going for days, now, and I was getting a little hopeful that we'd hit society soon. After all, the Tallest were working things out, even if there were instances that made me think they weren't entirely taking my side.

Sometimes, I heard them talking in what sounded like riddles, and my name was dropped a couple of times. I also picked up on a few more names that I did not recognize, nor did I bother memorizing them, since I didn't think they were important or relevant at all. If the Tallest didn't want me to remember who I was, or, at least, if they were honoring the fact that _I_ did not want to remember who I was, they were doing a terrible job at making the fact that remembering was inevitable a secret. If I absolutely _had_ to find out, I wanted to find out on my own, not wait around with specific questions on my mind until something awful happened that would cause me to pick up on something from my past.

Whenever I got angry at them for talking about me behind my back, I would find a clearing of my own and start beating things up. I found out that, if I kept at it, I could actually knock over a small tree with my bare hands. GIR would often accompany me, and start throwing pebbles or something to show that he shared my uneasiness. If it weren't for GIR being there to keep me entertained and uplifted, I probably would have gone insane.

Once Red got a little more comfortable with his temporary human form (though he muttered on an almost hourly basis that he hated it and didn't see what could possibly be so wonderful about being human), he and I went through a little combat practice together. Red, as most every Irken knew, had once been an Elite—usually a prerequisite for being a Tallest, unless there was an unforeseen pituitary miracle within a civilian or regular class Invader—and had kept up with his fight training. Elites practiced a very ancient form of what I suppose could be classified as martial arts, and it soon turned from me helping him to him teaching a few new tricks to me.

That evening did, indeed, turn into a training session, since the only way Red and I could work through our anger at each other was to fight it out. Purple and GIR sat off to the side as spectators. Once Purple had convinced us to stop for the evening, we'd settled on a patch of field near a small slope, on which the spectators now sat. Red and I, still fueled by our annoyance and exhaustion that had built up during the heat of the day, walked the 'combat' area in the field around us, steering clear from a patch of taller grass that was growing a few yards away.

Training with Red was fun, but it was no easy task. For starters, there were things we were keeping from each other, both with our own reasons. He was keeping the past from me, which I supposed was fine, and I ignored as best I could his cryptic conversations with Purple, and I was withholding information about the Mandylion from him. Both of them, actually. Part of me wondered if she was just a weird delusion, but the better part of my conscience scolded that of course she was real: she was an odd kind of external psyche, or guide, or something. I didn't like her, but I didn't dislike her, either. She clearly intended to help me, however odd her methods were, so for now I kept her visits a secret, afraid to find out more about her that I wouldn't want to hear.

Red had done well so far, as had I, but we were both more or less just limbering up. Neither of us had been serious in training sessions yet. It was just strike-dodge-strike-dodge, that kind of thing. No real, physical, ongoing fights. Not till that night. We were fighting out real anger, not just trying to keep up with each other and figure out our strengths and weaknesses.

Not even five minutes into this slightly more intense strike-dodge grapple, I tossed Red off and shouted, "Fight like you mean it!"

"I am!" he barked back at me. "Your style is just... weird!"

"It's not weird, it's human!"

"Exactly!" We both glared at each other for a moment after that, and I let what I'd just said sink in. I hadn't really asked Red or Purple's opinion, yet, on how they felt about me enjoying being human. I'd gotten a little bit from reading how they both treated me when the subject of the obvious came up, but I hadn't explicitly _asked_ about it. Red seemed pretty convinced it was a phase, though, but one that I was indulging too much in. Perhaps Purple thought the same thing, but at least the latter seemed slightly more supportive.

"We're on Earth, though, aren't we?" I pointed out, holding my hands out to indicate the vast field we were standing in. "I keep saying this, Red... you've gotta learn to fight like a human."

The Tallest snarled. "What, now?" he guessed.

"Now's as good a time as any."

Red glared over at his partner, who shrugged at him but gave no other reply to either of us. GIR glanced up at Purple, then gave Red the thumbs-up, as if translating. That only seemed to succeed in making Red look more reluctant to do it, and, indeed, he dismissed himself with a, "Screw that." He turned and walked off in the direction of the stream, leaving me still mad at him but more confused than anything.

Purple did not go after him. In fact, he didn't even move. It seemed almost pointless to ask Purple about his strained relationship with Red, even though it was something I wished one or the other would elaborate on. Back on the _Massive,_ they appeared together for the Irken audience constantly, but I knew better than anyone that they spent a great amount of time alone as well. Purple seemed to prefer being alone, and I couldn't blame him, if Red was this difficult all the time. I had a feeling Red was the kind of person who'd complain no matter what the problem was. Oh, he'd get things done... but I wondered if their meetings ever got strained due to his incompetence. Purple definitely seemed more level-headed, but even more secretive.

Without a word, I took a seat beside him, and half-hoped that he would start up another conversation with me. Every time I'd spoken with Purple alone, I felt a little more motivated. I'd start to understand my own ideas a little better. Even if he wasn't trying, he provided sound guidance, and I appreciated that.

When several minutes passed and still he hadn't said anything, I took it upon myself to attempt something. "Sir," I began, "if you don't mind my asking, what—"

"Don't call me 'sir,'" Purple reiterated. He didn't look at me.

"Sorry. But, I wanted to ask you, um... about Red..."

Purple sighed and rolled his eyes. "He'll be back," he assured me. "Just give him a few minutes, he'll come around. Red's like that. Give him enough time to make him think it was his idea."

I had to laugh at the thought. "You speak from experience?" I suspected.

"All too well." A little breeze rose up as the heat of the day began to lift, and I drew in a deep breath. Purple closed his eyes and leaned forward onto his bent knees, using his arms as a pillow. He was exhausted. I wondered if he was having trouble sleeping. I wouldn't put it past him, even though, on my watch, anyway, he seemed to be dealing with that much just fine.

"You all right?" I asked, out of concern and curiosity.

"Just tired," Purple assured me. A minute or two passed, during which neither of us knew what to say, until he continued, "We can't keep walking for long, Zim. You know that, right?"

"I know," I sighed. "I'll find us a town soon enough, I swear. We've gotta be getting close."

"We need real food," Purple said, reading right through my empty promise. Because, truth be told, I had no idea how close we could be to anywhere. I was just basing everything on hope. "If this heat doesn't kill us, starvation will."

"We'll get somewhere soon," I repeated, speaking more strongly.

"I hope so," said Purple. "Meanwhile," he added, lifting his head to look at me through the curtain of his long bangs, "don't let Red get to you too much. And don't over-exert yourself when you two spar. Practice, but don't overdo it, or you'll regret it."

"I'll keep that in mind, sir."

Purple groaned and rested against his knees again. "Call me that one more time..." he warned.

"Oh," I caught myself, my heart rate rising, "right. Sorry about that."

"Don't apologize," Purple snapped. "Just don't do it anymore." Touchy. It was interesting that, while Red enjoyed me still referring to him by title and by 'sir,' Purple seemed ready to strangle me for it. He had seemed out of it, a little, though. Perhaps the whole 'human' situation embarrassed him, and he was taking the plight too harshly, even if he sometimes did appear to take things lightly.

I didn't have much time to wonder, since at that point Red returned and announced, "Let's get this over with."

"You're sure?" I called over.

"Come teach me something," Red ordered.

I grinned. "Yes, sir." Purple chuckled under his breath. He had Red more or less figured out, that much was certain. Purple was probably my key to surviving Red's absurdity; just take whatever he said and go with it when dealing with the more stubborn of the two.

And so we began again. Red warned me that he could only take in so much, so I tried to tailor things to ease him into the techniques I'd picked up during the Warp. It was kind of weird, how much I'd come to like sparring in human form. It wasn't really that I liked fighting as much as I just liked testing my limits. And it all started with how much better my reach and reflexes seemed to be.

"Human hands are pretty powerful things," I tried to explain to the Tallest, unintentionally grinning a little as I spoke. I got far more pleasure from having human abilities than Red was comfortable with seeing.

"Huh," he dismissed, glaring down his nose at me. "How d'you figure?"

"Easy," I said. "I mean, come on, _look_ at 'em. Here. Make a fist. Just make a fist." I demonstrated, clenching my right hand into a fist, curling my fingers in and delighting in the feeling of strength that one simple action could send surging through me. With that action, my arm tensed up, my shoulder squared, and I felt ready to take on anything. I deeply enjoyed it; Irken fighting techniques seemed like cheating, compared to raw human abilities.

"This is stupid," said Red. "It's really stupid. You're stupid. I hate this."

"Do you want to learn how to survive on this planet, or not?"

Red grimaced, then, begrudgingly, took on a more ready stance, his feet shoulder-width apart, and copied my action: he looked down at his right hand, curling his upper lip in disgust, then folded his own long fingers in to form a fist, at my request. All of a sudden, the look on his face wasn't so full of disdain anymore. I could almost venture to say that the Tallest looked intrigued.

"Great!" I complimented. "Now your left hand."

"Zim, this is pointless, and besides—"

"Left hand, my Tallest, come on," I urged, walking around to stand in front of him. Red once again obliged, having little else to do at that point in time, then gave me a nod to acknowledge that he'd done that and I'd better well have something else interesting to say to follow that up with. So I smirked, readied myself, and said, "Now hit me."

"What?"

"Hit me!" I encouraged him, outstretching my arms. "Punch me. I don't care. Just hit me!"

"Zim, you are dumber than I thought if you're asking me to do that," Red warned.

"Call me whatever you want, but this'll be good!" I assured him. I admit, I was getting excited about the prospect of sparring with him, too. I'd only gone head-to-head in human form against Gaz (sigh...) and Tak. I wanted to get Red serious about fighting, and about fighting correctly. Since Tak had become an even more formidable opponent due to this awful, awful fluke, we had to be ready for anything she could even think to pull. "Go ahead, come on, it'll be fun! Hit me! Wherever you want, just—"

"You asked for it!" Red growled. That said, he swiftly and accurately punched me across the face, attacking from the right, with enough unforeseen force to knock me off my feet. I was stunned, but caught myself before I could hit the ground in too embarrassing a fashion, then grinned up at Red, who admitted, "You were right. That was fun."

"He rescued us, you know!" Purple shouted, cupping his hands over his mouth for better audibility, from his seat on the slight incline behind Red. "Don'tcha at least have respect for that?"

"I don't recall asking you if I was allowed to have my own opinions on this situation!" Red yelled back over his shoulder.

"Oh, you wanna talk _opinions—?"_ Purple tried.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever," Red said, waving his partner off.

I laughed and righted my position, then threw a strike at Red without warning, to test his reflexes. He blocked my punch with a swift move of his right arm, then took advantage of an opening and managed to kick me down. Thinking quickly, I spun around and dealt a low kick, which caught Red, but as soon as we were both on ground level, he grabbed the back of my head with his right hand and with his left jabbed my neck with two fingers.

Echoing my own warning back on our first day on Earth, Red said smugly, "You're dead, I shot you."

"Nice," I complimented him. I stood and offered Red a hand, which he refused in the interest of shifting to stand on his own. Hmm. Red wasn't one to rely on other people, or at least admit when he needed help. Despite the fact that he'd be nothing without support from many classes within the Empire, Red thought too highly of himself to ask for assistance anywhere. No matter how much I was going to be helping him out on Earth, I knew I probably wouldn't ever hear a word of thanks for it. I was fine with that. Hopefully getting to remain human would be reward enough.

We started up a second round, and Red was quickly adjusting to the human strengths and limits he now had. I 'won' a couple of times just by knocking his glasses off, but the third time I tried that dirty trick, Red was comfortable enough to strike blindly, and got me right in the gut. Give him a gun or two, and he could have been deadly. He'd been an Elite, after all.

"You're doing really well," I told him when we stopped to catch our breath. Purple and GIR had been watching the entire time, the latter looking much more enthralled than the former. Then again, to GIR it was entertainment. To Purple... well, I had the feeling he was studying both of us.

"Don't really get the point of it, though," Red huffed. He'd already complained before about how irritating it was that humans needed so much air all the time. At least the temperature was dropping into a moderate evening. "Who'm I gonna be using this on, anyway?"

"Well... as long as you're here, barring just a couple incidences, I don't see you having to fight many humans," I began, working through all probable situations in my mind. That was a technique I was pretty damn happy to have developed. Unfortunately, I was only able to see reason and logic as a human. Or, semi-human, or whatever I was. Let's just say human; sounds nicer. "Irkens, yes, humans not so much. Maybe other Irkens _looking_ human, if Tak gets up an army to have holograms like she does..."

"How come I'd be fighting Irkens?" Red just had to ask.

"Cuz you look human, idiot!" Purple shouted over.

"You shut your damn mouth or I'll come over there and shut it for you!" Red growled at him. Purple stuck his tongue out and spread his legs out into the grass. While my attention was still on the more diminutive of the two, I saw Purple do the most interesting thing, then, too: once Red's back was turned, Purple kicked his shoes and socks off, and indulgently ran his feet through the grass. He was getting an odd sort of pleasure out of the situation, or he was just fooling around. Either way, he was taking things a lot differently than his stubborn partner. "Anyway," said Red, "I guess you guys have a point. As much as I hate it, I do look... like this. For now."

"Right," I nodded. "If the Irkens don't recognize you now, they'll attack anyway just due to your appearance. If they _do_ recognize you... I don't know. I haven't thought that far."

"Whatever," said Red. "Purple and I can handle it if we are recognized. It may even be advantageous."

"We'll take advantages as they come," I decided. "For now, you need to get comfortable with the advantages of being human. Of which there are some," I added when Red looked ready to complain again. I then looked over at Purple, on the incline, who was currently digging dirt out of his fingernails, and asked in a raised tone, "You sure you don't want in on this?" Purple glanced up, then brushed his hair, with some annoyance, out of his eyes. "It could be useful!"

"I don't think I look like much of a target," was his answer.

"But supposing you _are—"_ I tried.

"I'll learn by watching," said Purple, with a smile. "I always do."

"Hmm."

I shrugged off all of the nagging questions for and about him that swam through my mind for the time being, and got back to working through basics with Red. Fighting burned calories, but it didn't leave me hungry, which was a good thing. Both Red and I skipped our rationed out energy tablets for that evening, since I was sure we'd both appreciate the boost more in the morning.

After we'd each individually washed up in the stream, I asked Red how he was feeling about everything. I kept the topic open, though he read enough to know that I meant fighting in human form specifically.

"It's been a long time since I've had to fight by my own means," Red mused, staring off at nothing. He held out his right hand and glared at it—I even noticed his red eyes focusing on one spot in particular: the scar just below his thumb. "Dunno how I feel about that."

"You really are doing well, though," I said. "Trust me, Red, everything we're doing will come in handy. And, hey, teach me everything you know sometime, too."

Red didn't answer me for almost a minute; he didn't look at me, either. Then, his eyes narrowed as he said, "I'll teach you something, sure."

It was weird hearing Red be anything but blunt. The comment, the way he almost awkwardly delivered it, didn't settle well with me, and in the back of my mind I saw a slight flash. I blocked it out, though, and kept myself in the conversation. "You... you must've gone through some intense training, eh?" I asked him. "When you were in the Elite, I mean."

"Yeah," Red remembered. "My Elite Commander taught me how to fight. That bitch Tak and I used to be in the Elite together, and, uh, Purple of course," he added quickly after snarling out the usurper's name. "We were a damn unstoppable Elite, I'll tell you that."

"Were _you_ ever leader of the Elite?" I wondered. That question went unanswered when Purple interrupted us by accidentally burning himself while trying to build a fire in a natural pit GIR had found. The heat of the day had lingered long enough to spite us, and now that the sun had set, a minor chill had come with it; Purple had taken it upon himself to attempt building a fire for us. With only GIR as supervision. A bad idea, I realized in retrospect.

As Purple was muttering a few select expletives, I walked over to the firepit. "You okay?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," he said, blowing gently on the finger he'd just burned. "Nothing too serious—just caught me by surprise."

After a moment, I had to ask, "Why don't you ever want to spar with us? You aren't too uncomfortable, are you, with being—"

"I just don't feel like fighting right now," he told me kindly, smiling. Something told me that he was as good as if not better at fighting than Red was, and I would someday soon see him in action. Purple always had been the more passive one, though, so I didn't blame him for keeping to the side.

Much later that night, I woke from a short and dreamless sleep for reasons unknown to me. I was probably just restless. I wanted to get to a town so badly. Not just any town. That one. The one I knew. I remembered enough phone numbers, enough addresses, that could surely get us there from wherever we ended up. It was awful being stuck out in the middle of nowhere. We couldn't keep going like this.

Unable to sleep, I went for a walk. GIR woke up and followed me for a little while, then gave up and plopped down in the middle of the short trek. I glanced up at the sky, as if it could provide me with some kind of answer. I just needed direction, that was all. Some kind of hint that could lead us the right way toward society. How the Tallest would function was something I wasn't even concerning myself with. For now, what mattered was the basics.

And then I could begin working on that promise I'd made...

When I walked back over to where we'd settled for the night, I noticed that Purple was still very much awake, hardly seeming to have moved since the last time I'd spoken to him.

"Purple?" I asked, trying to stop myself from yawning as I spoke, stepping up to him cautiously. He was sitting near the fire, staring down at his right hand.

"Go to sleep, Zim," he responded without skipping a beat, and without turning to look at me. He closed his right hand into a fist, sighing as he glanced at his palm before his fingers closed in. "Red seems to have figured it out, now. I suggest you do the same."

"I told you, I've been human before," I snapped. "I know _how_ to sleep, I just don't want to! Not knowing that you two are—"

"We're fine."

I didn't say anything for a moment. After a beat I noticed that, in his left hand, Purple held a small stick, shaped something like a pencil. There was charcoal on the end; he must have held it to the flames for a moment.

"Were you just... writing something?" I asked him, taking a seat by the fire. "On your hand, I mean."

"Perhaps." Purple looked over at me, his long, unruly purple bangs sweeping across the right side of his face, blocking that eye from view. "Your bandage is coming off," he said, almost out of nowhere, his voice softening a little.

"Eh? Oh," I noticed. Without thinking much of consequence, I untied the makeshift bandage, which had started falling loose during the activities of the day.

"Looks awful," said Purple. In spite of his sharp eyes, he looked deeply concerned.

"I... yeah..." I said, touching my wound lightly with my left hand.

"Argh, idiot, don't do that!" Purple barked at me, getting up and rushing over to where I was sitting. He knealt next to me and took my right arm up in his hands, examining the open laceration by the light of the fire. "If you touch it, you'll infect it! There's all sorts of bacteria on your hands that could seep in through that wound and infect your bloodstr—" He slapped his left hand over his mouth, and slowly let go of my arm with his right.

"I'm sorry..." he whispered. "O-old habits... I'm sorry, I can't say any more..."

"Wh-what happened?" I wondered, trying not to sound too demanding. "You were right about those things, I really shouldn't be... Purple, what's—"

"Shut up and keep this on!" he snapped. In one swift motion, he grabbed the scrap of fabric up and tied it so tightly around my arm I winced.

"Sir," I tried, "I really don't—"

_"STOP IT,"_ Purple shouted at me, our eyes locking for a second. In a fit of rage, he grabbed me by the collar and repeated for good measure, "Stop calling me _'sir!'"_ I nodded, wide-eyed and shocked, and he harshly let go of me. Note to self that he was almost more easily provoked than his partner.

But I was speechless. I couldn't think of a thing to say, and was even more confused when Purple stood, looked at what he had written in char on his right palm, and shouted at the sky, "You hear me? I don't care what happens to me anymore! I don't care if you take my life for what I'm about to do, but as long as I've been given this chance I'm not going to continue with the lie any longer! I've done my part, now—"

Red, who I thought had been sleeping the entire time, surprised me by suddenly grabbing Purple from behind and covering his mouth. Red drew his partner in to him, despite the fact that Purple was struggling, desperately trying to break free.

Tears formed at the corners of Purple's eyes, and he bit down on Red's hand. Though he was close to bleeding, Red still did not let go.

He was stronger than Purple. Much stronger. He always had been, and in their human bodies it was even more apparent, and not just in Red's height (or, more specifically, Purple's superior lack thereof). Red was more domineering, more like a dictator was expected to be. Purple was nearly his polar opposite.

At the moment, I was witnessing a physical display of what usually was only a battle of wits. Though Purple's ideas were always better, they were too complex, elaborate, and sometimes fragile. When Red had an idea he stuck to it, and it always beat out the competition; Purple's words would be driven into the ground. Now, again, Purple was fighting a losing battle. His smaller, almost feminine frame, matched against Red's height and strength, was not the best for starting—or finishing—even the most insignificant of physical fights.

Finally, he struggled free enough to shout, "Let me _go!"_

At that moment, I saw something that completely astounded me, leaving me, for a few seconds, breathless. The tears that had formed at the corners of Purple's eyes fell.

Which, of course, brought only one thought to mind: _What... the... hell..?_ I choked on my breath and knew that I was staring. Purple could cry. I'd felt tears before. I knew the sensation. I knew what it felt like to want to let them out in times of extreme pain. No matter what, though, I _couldn't._ They'd dry up and disappear; they never left my eyes. _What makes him so different..?_ It couldn't have just been another weakness the Cabochon had shouldered him with, could it? Or was my _inability_ the weakness? Either way, I was floored. And suspicious of just about everything.

"You're breaking your code," Red hissed forcefully, his eyes gleaming behind his glasses. "You can talk to me later, but in front of _Zim?_ Come on, _Purple,_ you've got too much at stake!"

"Shut up!" Purple cried. He really was letting it all out, now. He kept his eyes pressed shut, and seemed to be trying to stop himself from allowing any more tears to fall, but they streamed down his thin cheeks all the same. With unsteady breaths, he struggled a little more against Red, who seemed almost concerned.

"I'm not going to let you go until you concede to stopping this display at _once!"_

"Let go of me, Red..." Purple said, trying to calm himself down, his voice shaking. "I don't care anymore. Let whatever happen just happen! I'm sick of doing this. I'm sick of lying! Aren't you?"

"Shut up, you're making a fool of yourself."

"I really don't care!"

Red whispered something in Purple's ear, and after that the struggle calmed down. Red let go and Purple fell to his knees, then gripped his chest and doubled over, trying to hide his turmoil.

"What... what just happened?" I asked Red timidly, stepping up to the Tallest.

"You aren't the only one with complications concerning the past," Red answered with a sigh. "I—Purple wasn't always... well... the way he is."

"What were you about to say?" I wondered.

"What?"

"I..." I prompted.

_"It's nothing!"_ Purple interrupted. I looked down at him, and he looked away from me and Red, blinking back his tears. "Forget it. I should forget it too."

"Purple—" I tried, wondering what was wrong with him, and if there was anything I could do to help.

"Get some sleep," Red suggested to Purple, grabbing me by the collar.

"But—" his partner protested.

"I'll keep watch for the rest of the night," said Red. "So... just get some rest, okay?" Slightly softer, he added, "You need it."

Purple heaved a sigh, then stood, looked up at Red and grinned. "I don't think height determines authority here," he said, and walked back over towards the dying fire, then laid down on his back, looking up at the stars.

"Red..." I began, looking up at the Tallest after freeing myself from his grasp.

"Hmmm?"

"Did Purple already... you know... know about Earth before any of this?" I asked.

Red froze, then tried to cover his strange action by saying, "I don't know what you're talking about. We didn't know anything about this planet until you—"

"Stop lying to me," I cut in harshly. "I don't care if you're the Tallest or _not,_ Red, you keep lying to me, and while you're like this I can more accurately determine your expression. You're lying. You're covering something up. You knew about Earth, I know you did, and you can't deny that! How long has the Empire known about this planet?"

"If you keep sticking your nose into things that didn't concern you until this point," Red cautioned, grinding his knuckles into my forehead angrily, "you're going to start remembering things!"

"WHAT?" I barked, shoving his hand away.

"You said you didn't want to remember your past," Red snarled. "If you want those memories to _stay_ gone, you've got to do more than just say that. You've got to stop questioning us for one."

"Well, gee, that was all you asked of me when I was Irken, too," I spat, promptly turning on my heel and storming away from him.

Red snarled, and, after I'd succeeded in walking a few yards away, I heard him hurriedly catching up to me. It didn't take long until he passed me, then turned and stood in front of me, hands on his hips, stopping me in my tracks. His eyes gleamed in the moonlight, and he looked positively angry at me.

"What?" I asked darkly, glowering up at him, folding my arms.

Red took in a deep breath, then said reluctantly, "I'm willing, for the moment, to just talk to you, Zim. Answer a couple questions you might have, you know. Just listen to a couple of things I have to say, first, and then we can talk in a civilized manner. You up for that?"

I wanted to punch him. Just because he was taller than me, he thought he had power and authority over me. I hated that, and in order to show him, I shrugged him off and walked past him. "You're not my father," I snapped, continuing on.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Red asked me harshly, starting to follow me again. "Zim, you sound so—"

"Human?" I offered sardonically. "Great. Because at the moment, that's what I'm aiming for. Keep your stupid Irken secrets, I'd rather live here."

Red stopped walking, and I went just a little further, then turned, wondering what had caused him to become so silent. He was frozen stiff, and he looked, suddenly, positively concerned. "What?" I wondered.

He was silent for a moment longer, then asked nervously, "You meant that, didn't you?"

"About wanting to stay on Earth?" I wondered. Red nodded. I thought for a moment, wondering if I really did mean everything that I had just said. It's true I enjoyed being human, and even Purple had noticed that I looked like I wanted to belong elsewhere. I was tired of the Irkens, in all honesty. Their rules, their structure, their unwillingness to accept emotions. Yes. I wanted to be more human. I loved the way everything felt, as a human. I loved this planet, and I couldn't try to deny it aloud anymore. "Yes," I answered.

Red pocketed his hands and furrowed his brow, taking in my conviction for a moment. He then looked back over at me and said, "I'm still willing to talk to you. You up for that?"

I decided that it was for the best that I at least humor him, so I shrugged and gave in, and the two of us walked silently back to the fire, where Purple and GIR were sleeping. Red stopped and looked down at his partner for a moment. It was hard to determine just what he was thinking about at that point. I could definitely sense a connection between Red and Purple, but it seemed stronger on Red's part. Purple always just went along with everything.

When I sat down with Red to talk, I decided that getting out my questions about the other Tallest would be the best place to start. "Hey, Red?" I wondered.

"Yeah?"

"What's up with Purple, anyway?" I asked straightforwardly. "He's been acting differently since we came here. Or since I got a conscience, really. Like he's trying to help me or something... or even like he's trying to figure _himself_ out. Something like that. You guys have been Tallest together for a long time, right? Has he been like this before?"

"What do you mean, 'like this?'" Red wondered.

"So calm about absolutely everything," I clarified.

Red sighed. "He's different, yeah," he answered. "Most of what he acts like in front of the Irken audience is just for show." Red brought his knees up and clasped his arms around them, then recoiled, cringing a little and examining his arms and hands. He got caught on his breath, then growled in the back of his throat and crossed his legs, leaning forward a little, looking very uncomfortable. "This body _sucks,"_ he commented, holding his head in his hands. "I'm more aware of it when we're not doing anything. I know I'm getting off topic, but how can you stand this? It's so uncomfortable and awkward!"

"I'm just used to it," I shrugged.

Red groaned, then muttered, "Whatever." He stuck his tongue out and added, "I'd hate to see what I look like head-on right now." He shook his head. "Anyway."

"Um... about Purple..." I continued. Red showed me that he was listening intently. I decided to start with getting the biggest issue off my back. "He can cry..." I said quietly.

"Huh?"

"He shed tears," I reiterated, still whispering. I tucked my knees close to my chest and bent over, wishing again that I could release tears of my own. "Why? _How?_ I'm used to being human... I even enjoy it... I have reason to do the same, so why can't I? Has he always been able to do that?"

Red cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses. "As far back as I've known him," he said.

My heart skipped. "Really?"

"Some Irkens are just different," Red went on. "The difference between us and—and Purple is simple. What it all comes down to is just what we were born with. No matter how human you may have become, Zim, you're still an Irken, and technically so am I. And technically so is he. Each of us just has... um... something different about him."

"So what was he born with?" I had to know.

"Zim, please don't look into this any more," Red advised. "It's for your own good."

I did not know how to reply to Red's final statement. Was he looking out for me? Was he just trying to cover something up? I wanted to know, and yet at the same time I wanted to stay as I was, without remembering a thing.

Why did it always come down to memories with me? When Tak had first turned me human, the effect caused me to forget things even faster... I knew nothing of my past, that was for sure, but as the days went on I'd forgotten even the most trivial things about being Irken. Was that for the better? Should I have let go then, and started my life over a second time?

I only knew, at this point, that I was the one who suppressed my own memory, never wanting the images of the previous decades to return. Much later in the evening, long after the fire had died and the Tallest had both been asleep for quite some time, I still sat awake, my back against a tree, my mind plagued with questions and concerns. After a flash and a sting, I grabbed at my tightly bandaged upper right arm.

Was it that wound, I wondered, that was making me remember things? Again the vision of a corpse flashed into my head, and just as quickly I willed it away.

Who was it? Who was holding the blade?

It couldn't have been me, could it? I'd never seen that weapon before... had I?

"Miyuki!" I gasped, my eyes widening. "That can't be Miyuki, can it..?" I asked myself in a whisper. "That... wasn't how I killed her... no, they told me it was because of something I created... they told me... _they_ told me! What do _they _know? Are they covering for what I really did to her?" It must have been gruesome, though, whatever the truth behind her death was. Nobody talked about it anymore. I only knew that I was hated for it.

Suddenly, the air around me dropped in temperature to the point that I got an awful chill. The humidity of the day dissolved into an icy haze, and then, shrouded in fog, there she was again.

The Mandylion.

I scrambled to my feet and glanced around, confirming that the others were sleeping through this. Purple's fire had burnt itself to smoking embers, but he had not stirred. Red, quite a way off, slept, as usual, uncomfortably, using one arm as a pillow and clutching his glasses lightly in the other hand. GIR was sprawled out under a tree.

The cloaked figure stood unmoving in front of me, moonlit and terrifyingly serene. I should probably have searched for a better conversation opener than, "You again?" but that was all I could manage.

"Have you come to a decision?" she asked me, unfazed by my verbal stupidity.

"As far as my goal?" I guessed. The Mandylion may or may not have nodded. "Yes," I sighed, reflecting. "There's someone I have to keep a promise to. For that to happen, I want to be human. I need to be."

"Very well," the Mandylion commented. "It is a sound choice, as you began that journey some time ago."

"What d'you mean by journey?" I needed to know.

"It's a soul you want, isn't it?" Words could not begin to express how much this being horrified me. And yet I did not try to run, or ask her to leave. Haunting as she was, she was intriguing. And she knew far too much. I knew she had my answers. She was just withholding them.

"I—well—" I sputtered, aghast, "yes... but, is that even possible?"

I wished I could have seen her expression. Especially since the next thing she said was, "It's beyond possible, Zim... that goal is within your reach."

Well! A stroke of good news. Possibly. "How..." I began tepidly, keeping my distance from the frightening enigma, "how can someone who wasn't born human earn a human soul? That just... doesn't seem to..."

"Every race has a counterpart," the Mandylion told me. "Surely you have noticed a connection to this planet."

"As an Irken?" Another almost-nod. "Well, I mean, _I_ got attached, but..."

"And those of other races may not have the same experience. Your two races are unique with a common bond."

I held my hands out in front of me to get her to slow down. Yes, I wanted answers, but was it too much to ask for answers that, oh, _made sense?_ "You're confusing me," I admitted. "Humans and Irkens are linked?"

"Compatible, at any rate."

"The hell does that mean?" I nearly shouted, before I remembered that waking the Tallest was not in my best interests.

"I simply mean that an Irken with the desire to do so could work to become human," the Mandylion told me. She still had barely moved, even though the fog seemed to swirl around her in a suggestion of movement. I was beginning to wonder what exactly her methods and motives were, but the concepts she'd presented were too intriguing to worry much about that yet. "The element missing is a human soul."

"And... I can earn one?" I asked slowly.

"You can."

"How?"

"A soul is made up of several parts," said the Mandylion, "and a human body cannot exist without at least a fragment of a soul, unless the body is a false one. How do you think you got this far? Why do you think you were able to determine your emotions; why do you think you are familiar with them still? Zim, on the first day you became human, you earned a part of your soul. Your heart is human because of that." That said, she took a quick step up to me and pressed one gloved, long-fingered hand against my chest. I felt frozen to the core... with the exception of one small source of heat, oddly enough radiating close to where she'd placed her hand.

My eyes going wide, I spat out, "You're saying that—you're seriously saying that I have a fragment of a human soul? In me? Now?"

"When you put your faith and trust in someone you thought was your enemy, you proved that you were capable of trusting others and, more importantly, letting others trust you as well," said the Mandylion. "Trust is one of the key factors of a human soul, along with Fear, Hate and Love, all of which you must rise to meet or in some cases overcome. That, Zim, is how you can become human."

"What... are you?" I demanded, stepping back, away from her cold touch. "How do you know these things?"

The Mandylion stepped further away as well, and answered, "I am merely an observant wanderer. That, for now, is all you need to know. Now, if you'll excuse me, there is someone in need of my Mirror."

"Wait—"

"Best of luck tonight."

"Toni—what's tonight?" I shouted. "Goddammit, answer me with real words, you creepy—"But she was gone. I stood alone and in shock.

A quick lurch inside me told me that my PAK was still buried in there, but in addition to that, somehow, my human body was becoming the shell for a soul. Complete answers or not, that much was exciting.

Trust, Fear, Hate and Love, huh?

I grinned.

Hopefully, falling back in love would be easy. As long as she could return it.

When I glanced up at the sky to heave out a sigh, I watched a shower of falling stars go by. God, the night sky on Earth was gorgeous. I'd thought it before, and I'll repeat it forever: looking up at the stars was so much better than snobbishly looking down at them. Once we finally got to a city, I knew the view wouldn't be as spectacular, so I drank it what I could while we were still out in the middle of nowhere.

As more passed overhead, Red stirred and sat up. "What's going on?" he called over to me.

"Eh?" I wondered, glancing at him before taking a few steps closer.

"Ugh, shut up, I'd finally fallen asleep," Purple muttered, rolling over onto his other side.

Red shrugged his partner off and shook himself awake. He stood and, sliding his glasses on with newly perfected ease, met me where I stood and followed my gaze back skyward. "Meteors?" he guessed.

"Yeah," I said, caught up in the display. I didn't think to ask him if he'd felt the temperature drop and then regulate again with the coming and passing of the odd Mandylion. If he knew anything about her, I was sure he'd be hiding it. I doubted she'd revealed herself to either of those two, though. Something more than intuition assured me of that much. "It's—"

Red grabbed my shoulder to make me stop talking. His eyes narrowed, and he glared off in the distance. After a second, he adjusted his glasses and let out a slight hum, fixating on one particular spot in the sky.

"Sir..?" I began.

"Red?" Purple wondered, sitting up. I was surprised he was speaking to Red directly after the little scuffle by the fire earlier. "What'd you see?"

"Not even sure I'm seeing it right," Red grumbled. "Get over here, I need your eyes."

Purple drew in a deep, reluctant breath, then stood, beckoning me up as well. We stood on either side of Red, who nodded up at a fire trail in the sky. "That," he indicated. "I'm seeing that right, aren't I? That's not a meteor."

"Holy shit. Definitely not," I concurred. While the other stars left a visible trail behind them for a moment, they still disappeared once the star had passed. This was an object leaving behind a trail of fire and smoke. "What is it?"

"What do you mean, what is it?" Red growled. "It's a ship, that's what it is."

"What?" I yelped. "Here? On Earth?"

Red groaned. "Gonna go ahead and assume Earth doesn't have a fleet," he sighed.

"No, but it does have some shuttles and such with the ability to break orbit," I told him.

Red shook his head. "That's something with speed. Something more like—"

The ship and its fire trail continued plummeting downward. Until it crashed. My heart skipped several beats, and the sound of the impact rattled my ears. It was nothing deafening, no, but it was far too close for comfort. The horizon was lit up with light and flame from what was most likely a failed engine.

And on that horizon, I saw a city skyline. I rushed forward a few paces, just to be sure I was right. Indeed, the blast had lit up the night sky enough for me to make out just enough of what I needed to see. Tall buildings, peering over the trees. It was a good distance off, but if we pushed ourselves, we could make it there. Probably not in a single evening, but within the next day.

"Over there," I said to the others, "come on."

GIR let out a little, "Woo!" and was at my heels in seconds as I walked toward the crash site.

"Zim, are you insane?" Red hollered after me. "In my experience, you don't go _toward_ a crash unless you know what the hell it is!"

"Maybe I don't know what it is," I returned, calling over my shoulder, "but it landed in civilization. It definitely wasn't something from Earth, so it's gonna be worth our while to check ou—"

"It's them," I heard Purple say. "Red, he's right, we're going."

"Them?" I wondered as Purple caught up to me on my right. "Who do you mean?"

His sharp purple eyes narrowed, and his entire body showed more determination than he'd let on to over the past couple of days. "That wasn't an Irken ship," he said strongly, "and I'm sure you can confirm that it wasn't from Earth, as Red pointed out. I knew we'd gotten a Vortian reading from this sector, but—"

I drew in a slight gasp. "The Resisty?" I guessed. Purple nodded and sped up. "Sir," I tried, jogging to catch up, "are you really sure you should just burst in on them like that? I mean, we should take things more carefully, you... you two look human, and—"

"We can still fight," Purple argued. "I don't care what I look like. I'm taking the lot of them down. Are you with me?"

"I am, but—"

"Hey!" Red shouted after us. "Executive decision-maker, over here, I am not going along with this!"

"Then stay and starve!" Purple yelled back.

The steadfast, long strides behind us told me that Red had sucked it up and decided to follow. Purple paid no attention to him or me. In fact, he really was the most awake, driven and focused I'd seen him since we'd landed on Earth. I was itching to ask him so many things. What his secret was. Why he was hiding it. How much Red knew. How much Purple hid even from his partner.

For now, though, it seemed we had a mission ahead of us.

Armed with newly discovered truths, despite the questions that surrounded them, we marched on toward the crash site. Toward civilization. The three of us—and GIR—against a possible threat or even ally that Earth really did not need. Before anything could get out of hand, we had to confront that damn Resisty.

Assuming, of course, that they had even survived the crash.

– – –

– – –

**Author's Note:**

Ack! Only one chapter this week (but early..!), but I really will start speeding up the updates again very soon (I hope!). Interesting stuff going on here in this chapter… ^^

Need I mention that the Tallest are among my favorites? XD (From the show and within this story alike!) They're just… just fun.

Thank you thank you thank you all again so much for your awesome comments and favs! It means so much to me that you're all sticking with me through this story~~ ^^ So much to come~ :3

See you all next **Friday, August 5****th****!** Have a lovely week!

~Jizena~

– – –


	5. Panel 2: The Crash

– – –

**Author's Note:**

_Invader Zim_ is -c- Jhonen Vasquez! Only the events of this story, characters specific to the story, and character tweaking (heh) are mine. :3

~Jizena~

– – –

_Gaz's Records_

Nerves kept me awake longer than any person should ever have to go without sleep. Oh, I slept, but sporadically and uneasily. Most of the time, I lay on my bed staring at the wall, wondering what to do. I'd wanted answers, but I couldn't handle what I was given. Not without my brother. Since now he'd met our mother again, I was sure he could shed more light on the subject than anyone.

But how was he handling it? He had to know the truth by now. What was she saying to him? What were they _doing?_ I sat awake for hours wondering what the experience must have felt like for him, and wondering what kind of perspective he'd return with.

I kept my ring on and twisted it around constantly, the more I became something of a nervous wreck. Nothing seemed fair anymore. Not that anything ever did. I'd always preferred being solitary, but now I just felt cut off, and that was terrible. It didn't help that I was angry at everyone I'd ever spoken to. Even Dib. Even Zim.

Eventually, my nerves got me up and out of bed. Lex wasn't in the room, and when I left for the kitchen area, I heard the muffled trill of a violin coming from the grand hall, telling me that Lex had shut herself into the music room to practice.

I poured a glass of water for myself, realizing I hadn't picked up my guitar in a few days. I hadn't had any reason to play it. I didn't feel like it. I just felt empty, just some void waiting for someone to come along and fill me up with some semblance of purpose; someone else needed to tell me what to do next, since clearly I was unable to motivate myself.

Despite feeling so down, I still hadn't surrendered leadership of the Organization to Professor Haynsworth, which had caused things to come to something of a standstill, in the Headquarters building, anyway. The international reps were still conducting whatever research they'd been doing all along; General Brakem kept up army training and sometimes Tenn would go. When I gathered the nerve to ask Tenn why she did, she told me that Dib had told her recently that it would be best for both her and the army; for her to understand the way human tactics would play out, and for them to understand Irken motives. And to realize that not all of them (probably) were horrible. Tenn was such an interesting case. For a race of cloned soldiers, she sure stood out for, well, taking a stand and deciding to cut herself off.

Thinking about that, about the different ways Irkens melded into their society, I bowed my head and muttered, "Goddammit, Zim, where are you?"

Then, I choked, and collapsed against the counter. My water spilled and doused my left leg, but I didn't care. I'd done only one other panel since the first one, and tried so hard to keep the subject away from my mother, but it couldn't be helped. According to everyone who had known her, she'd never mentioned her Irken background. It was mainly understood, as far as Charlotte and the Trujillos knew, that she was different, and powerful. Professor Haynsworth, on the other hand, encouraged me to talk to him about it later.

But I didn't want to. I didn't want to fucking hear it from anyone but her. Or Dib.

And then, what about Zim's side? I wanted to know what he really thought of Miyuki. His Tallest Miyuki, the one he still felt remorse for killing, even if he didn't remember doing it. Flipping through my journals from the Incident again, I confirmed that he'd really told me that his brain was like a black hole, that there were sixty years missing from his memory, that he sometimes relied on others to try to fill up.

The only thing that was certain anymore was that we were all being lied to. I was convinced that the current Tallest were in on it. Whether Tak knew anything or not was beyond reasoning, because I didn't care about her or what she knew. I just cared and was bothered by the fact that she'd swayed Zim into helping her out recently. Still, I held onto the hope that he'd come back, that we could talk face to face, and that I wouldn't freeze up when that day finally came. I wanted to know if he still felt the same way he had when he'd written me that letter. I wanted to know if my supposedly Irken background would change anything for him.

Alternatively, almost more than anything, I wanted to hear from Dad. But he was so wrapped up in himself, I doubted he'd so much as call.

A little bit of drive coming back into me, I stood back and mopped up the water I'd spilled with a paper towel. If I wanted answers from my father, I'd have to settle for the next best thing, since it had been offered to me, anyway. Glancing at digital red clock on the microwave, I confirmed the time to be around ten p.m. Not too late, which was good; I just hoped he'd still be awake.

Silently but heavily, I slipped through the empty hallway on the right, which meant I walked past my brother's vacant bedroom and adjunct office. My stomach flipped, but I kept going. Through the grand hallway, past the locked door of the room that had swallowed Dib the night before his birthday, the room that my mother would probably lead me into in less than a year (cue the second flip of the insides). I didn't want to. I really didn't want to.

But if it was unavoidable, I may as well go into it with more knowledge than Dib had. I stopped in front of the office door that read _Haynsworth_ on the wooden plaque that slid into a narrow frame a little above my eye level. _Please,_ I prayed to... something... _don't let Dib come back from this broken._

Before I could stop myself, I knocked. Professor Haynsworth's calming voice sounded from inside and welcomed me in. Hardly knowing what I was doing, I opened the door and stepped in. I found myself in a bibliophile's paradise. The Professor's office was stacked floor to ceiling, wall to wall (minus the far wall, which had two windows overlooking the back field), with piles upon piles of books in varying states of antiquity. It smelled like the rare collection room in the town library, like weathering paper and long-lasting ink. Tucked almost secretively in the far right corner of the room was a black violin case, and the shelves nearest it seemed to be stacked with sheet music.

In the center of the room were two comfortable-looking, maroon-upholstered chairs, facing toward each other on a sepia-toned throw rug. Everything about the Professor seemed to be in sepia, really. He and Lex were both very much defined by earthtones, but this room in particular seemed like a pieced-together old daguerreotype of a library. His desk, behind which he was currently seated, was modern enough to break the illusion, though... the sleek white laptop and grey desk computer even more so. There were a few photographs on his desk, and I wondered for only a second if I'd catch a glimpse of Lex's mother, until I remembered her telling me about the rather bitter divorce and how little contact the two of them had with the former Mrs. Haynsworth now.

"Sit down, Gaz," the Professor suggested. "Please, make yourself comfortable."

"Thanks," I mumbled, going for the chair to my left.

"I'm just finishing a pot of tea... I've about two cups left," he offered me. "Would you like one?"

"What kind?" I wondered. "Wait. Let me guess. Lily and Jasmine."

The Professor laughed and stood, pouring two cups (the second of which just so happened to be set and ready on his desk... I guess he was kind of expecting company) and walking over to hand me one. One waft of the brew confirmed my thought. "What's with you guys and this kind of tea?" I asked him.

"It's only between my daughter and myself, really, though Charlotte drinks it now and again," Professor Haynsworth said as he sat in the maroon chair opposite mine. "You could call it a drink in memoriam, or in solidarity."

"Solidarity, huh? Do you also have one of those tattoos?" I wondered. Charlotte, Cthulhu, Bloodrose and a few others had all shown me their matching tattoos, which, in either Spanish or Latin or both, translated to _The Die is Cast._

The Professor laughed into his teacup. "Goodness, no," he told me. "I'm much too squeamish to allow that many pinpricks."

"Squeamish?" I said doubtfully. "Don't you kill vampires for a living?"

"Not for a living entirely, no, but per tradition, yes," he smiled. "Plus, there is a difference in squeamishness between liberating an undead soul with the pull of a trigger and stabbing ink into one's skin with repeated insertions of a needle."

"Huh. I guess." As I thought about it, the business of vampire hunting, I wondered, "What's it like? Killing vampires?"

Nonchalantly, the Professor set his tea aside and leaned forward onto his knees, clasping his hands together while keeping his calming eyes on mine. "By now, it's the same to me as writing a letter," he answered. "Researching, hunting down and destroying the undead is a practice that has gone back in the Haynsworth family for generations. It's as much a tradition for us as using literary references for middle names."

"Literary references?"

"Everyone in my family is, in some way, named for an author. Usually English, but never necessarily." He changed subjects so seamlessly, I was fully enthralled no matter what was being said. He was definitely the right person for me to be talking to at present. Because he had this fatherly (I assume fatherly, anyway) way of helping me forget about all the rest of the mess in my head. "For example," he continued on the current note, "my middle name is James, for James M. Barrie."

"The guy who wrote _Peter Pan?"_ I remembered. I'd never really read it, but I recognized it well enough. Mom may or may not have read it to us when we were little... I could never remember many specifics of stories or songs. Just what language they were in. Some were English, some were Finnish, and I remembered a Japanese fairy tale or two, as well as a handful of Italian and French songs.

"Yes, my parents were fond of his plays."

"What's Lex's?" I had to ask. Honestly, my brain first thought _Jane_ for _Jane Austen,_ but only because she was the only British female writer that came to mind.

"I named her for the woman who wrote _Frankenstein,"_ said the Professor fondly, "as she was a visionary for her time."

"Lex's middle name is Mary?"

"No, it's Wollstonecraft."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course it is," I sighed.

The Professor sat back and picked his tea up again, and I relaxed a little more in my chair. I picked at a slightly discolored spot on the wooden rim of the right arm and saw the glint of my ring. My heart skipped as I wondered if Professor Haynsworth had noticed it. To distract myself away from it, I said, "I always kinda wondered what my middle name would be."

"Oh? But you have a lovely one."

I jerked my head up and stared at the Professor, my tea still untouched. "I what?"

"You have a lovely middle name."

"Uh... not that I've ever heard."

"You and your brother," said the Professor, pausing briefly mid-sentence to take a sip of tea, "both have unique names, and fitting middle names, as well. Your mother named Dib, so your father chose his middle name; the reverse was true for you."

"Dad was the one that named me 'Gaz?'"

"He was."

"Then, what's my middle name?"

Smiling so effortlessly again, the Professor answered, "It's Tavisha."

That really was pretty, but I didn't voice any opinion on the matter. It was hard to believe that a name like that could be attached to me. Then again, it was hard to believe anything anymore. History was being hurled at me like an old fairy tale, and it was difficult to accept the truth in any of it. So my dad apparently started up a paranormal organization, so apparently my mother was Irken, so for some reason I'd always had a middle name I'd never known about. I felt like someone could tell me that grass was bright orange and I'd have to accept it.

I nodded, making no comment about my middle name, took a sip of the tea, which was pretty good, given that I don't enjoy light flavors like that very often, and tried to focus on something else.

"What's Dib's?" I had to know. So much for changing the subject.

"Your mother was in a French phase at the time," the Professor laughed. "It's Renard."

_"Renard?"_ I sputtered. For the first time in... years, possibly, I burst out laughing. I hadn't found anything funny in a very long time, but this was downright ridiculous. Now, after I was done being angry at Dib once he came back, I knew I'd make fun of him mercilessly for that flowery middle name.

"The French word for 'fox,'" said the Professor. That just got me laughing harder.

"Like it matters what it means," I smirked. "Just thinking of something that... I don't know, _royal_-sounding as my brother's middle name is funny."

"Well, your parents always did have high taste when it came to such things," the Professor said, joining in with a slight laugh of his own.

And there was my chance. I'd have to get the subject on them now, or I knew I'd talk around it all evening. "It's hard for me to believe that," I told Professor Haynsworth, as I slumped down in my chair a bit. "It's hard for me to believe a lot of things about my parents. Dad never talked to us. Mom left early. And Dad never said anything about Irkens, not even once, the whole time we were growing up. Why would he do that? Why would he just... just not _tell us anything?_ Professor, how well did you know him?"

The Professor sighed out on a melodic hum, crossed one leg regally over the other, and answered, "I knew him very well indeed, Gaz. We spent one term together at Oxford when we were undergraduate students. I got to know both of your parents quite well, in fact... your father's early inventions, your mother's love for world opera, and of course how passionate the two of them were in their paranormal studies."

He went on to paint an elaborate, inticing picture of the people my parents had been, back in the early 1980s, before everything seemed to have gone to hell. The Professor mentioned an accident that happened around the time that I turned three, which would have been just a few months before Mom left, a few months before Dib's fourth birthday, but he wouldn't expand upon that part of the story much. For the most part, I learned how driven Dad had once been. How outgoing and sociable he was back when his name was, according to the Professor, Charles Mansfield. He'd changed his name to Membrane mid-college, so Mom had married right into the name.

Even when Professor Haynsworth talked about my mother, I felt like there was very little being said. Oh, he told me about her plenty. He told me how she kept my father in line, how she could impress anyone with her knack and love for languages, how diligently she worked on both her musical abilities and her scientific research. She was obsessed with everything on Earth, and for good reason. The planet had just apparently enthralled her, and she became caught up in it.

And then she'd disappeared without a word.

Well, not without a word entirely, so I was told. She had left a small list of instructions in the hands of the Organization, meaning primarily with Charlotte Baudelaire and the storyteller himself, Victor Haynsworth, who at the time was already heading the London chapter.

Mom's departure had obviously taken an awful toll on Dad, to the point that he cut us off from everything he'd worked on, and everyone he'd known. Haynsworth himself was devastated, since he was on his way out with his own wife at the time, and couldn't even turn to my parents, upon whom he had once heavily relied, for consolation. Lex, too, I was told, had been torn up because of it. I was so young, I couldn't remember them from the time in question. Not until I really dug into my memory, and even then it was hazy.

Learning so much did at least want me to keep trying to be friends with Lex, so I could at least have _someone_ to talk to about all of it, but for the most part, what I got out of the Professor's incredible telling of why so many secrets and lies had surrounded my upbringing was an even stronger desire to speak to my mother, and a want stronger still to see my brother come home. I asked him to stop when it got too unbearable. It was hard, hearing about the life I, by all accounts, was supposed to have. The night my mother left, I'd been robbed of something I could never get back, even on the day that I would inevitably see her again.

"Talk to me any time you'd like, though, Gaz," said the Professor, who spoke only as long and about as much as I'd asked. "If there's anything at all I can do..."

At that point, there was a knock at the door. The Professor smiled as the door creaked open and Lex stepped in. "Sorry to intrude," she said, standing still in the doorway.

"That's quite all right, darling, we were just wrapping things up," said her father, giving me a warming glance that got me to nod my agreement. "Did you need something?"

"Oh, well, actually, I was hoping to borrow Gaz, if it's not too much trouble."

"No trouble at all. Gaz?"

I looked over and studied my roommate. She was so fucking put-together, even if she did have some rough patches in her own past. She was put-together in the sense that all of her woes were _normal._ Divorce. A new school. Bad relationships. Letting an ex distract her from her studies and spending a year crying over how her grades had fallen. All things she'd told me a little about, all things that normal people got to go through. I'd dealt with neglect. And lies. And more lies. Only to learn that I was meant to find out everything I'd _been_ lied to about once I hit this age. Or once Dib hit fourteen, whichever.

I grabbed at and slowly released the soft fabric of the black pajama pants I was wearing and stood up. "Thanks for the tea and the talk, Professor," I mumbled.

He nodded, rather regally, and encouraged me to keep on talking to Lex. I'd mostly been listening, but whatever. I'd always been more of a listener, anyway. I've always gotten more out of that than running my own mouth, especially since now all I ever did was ask things. Feeling a bit numb, still, I left and went on a suggested short walk with my roommate.

"How are you holding up?" she asked me.

I shrugged. "Okay," I decided on saying. "How long were you outside?"

"Not... well, not terribly long."

"So you heard stuff," I deduced. Lex nodded apologetically, to which I said, "Whatever."

"Listen, Gaz, I do hope you'll be well enough to know that you can talk to me, too. I'd sort of like to be more available to, well, help, if I can..."

"Why?" I demanded bitterly.

"Because seeing someone so distraught has been making me re-evaluate the way I've been looking at things myself, lately," she admitted.

"'Kay." Again, whatever. She really didn't have anything to complain about, compared to me. Fuck, did I ever let myself feel awful sometimes.

"I apologize for listening in," said Lex, speaking slowly. Nice was sort of a new thing for her, given how reluctant she'd seemed to jump on the bandwagon and get riled to fight the Irkens like the other recent additions to the complex. Then again, nice was new for me, too. Having someone like her constantly around helped, though... not to mention her father. Both of them put me at ease enough to want to open up, just a little. Still, nothing could compare to the way Zim had made me feel. I was still trying to work out how I thought I'd react the next time I saw him. That would have to be based, I was sure, on how he'd react to the newly revealed truths about me. "You barely spoke."

"Well, would you have?" I asked her. "Dib and I raised and defined ourselves. Now we get attacked with secrets that've been kept from us for years. I have no idea what to say."

Lex clammed up for a moment, then said hesitantly, "Your fool brother should be back round soon enough. He's the one you'd rather talk to, isn't he?"

"Honestly, yeah," I blurt out, sounding a little bitchier than I'd meant to. My tone shut both of us up; we even stopped walking, and both leaned back against one of the stark walls of the grand hall. I glared over at the door to the locked room, as if staring at it could fix all of my problems, or at least make a few of them make more sense. I was so trapped. So fucking trapped.

And things were about to get even more convoluted.

"Hey, Lex?" I said to break the silence.

"Yes?"

"You remember my mom, right?"

"A little, from a few visits," she answered. "Daddy's stories always help."

I laughed. "He is a good storyteller," I admitted. "But, about my mother... did she ever, you know, specifically talk about being Irken?"

Lex sighed musically and told me, "No. That much I only gathered from my father a few months after Miyuki was gone."

"How come _you_ got to know?" I snapped.

"I don't know! Different means of upbringing, I assume. I thought your father was better than this!" Lex snapped back in her defense. "I really did! I remember him being outgoing, and how boisterous he and my father could get. They had such a strange group of friends, but I remember them having heated, serious talks about this Organization, and the paranormal in general. I honestly thought your father would have brought you and Dib up to know about it all."

"Yeah," I grumbled. "Instead, he just went crazy. I can't even remember the last time I saw his face."

"I'm sorry," Lex offered.

I shrugged to accept it and brush it off at the same time. The only apologies I wanted were from the people who really had wronged me. My family. "So," I tried, "I doubt you'd remember any names Mom might've said."

"Like which?"

"Um... Zim, for one," I said, instantly feeling strange. I hadn't had many opportunities to say his name aloud recently, so every time I did, I'd get an awful sinking feeling throughout my body. Just one talk. Just one talk, that was all I wanted.

Lex wrinkled her nose. "You mean the Invader your brother warned everyone about at the welcoming meeting?" she guessed.

"Ugh, did he?"

"He did. Why?"

"Never mind."

I could tell her all about that later. Maybe. If I felt like it.

Before another awkward silence could start, Lex noticed, "You look exhausted."

"I am. I just can't sleep."

Lex almost smiled, but stopped herself. I wondered what her deal was with smiling. I mean, I didn't because I didn't feel like I had reason to. Not that Lex was nececssarily gregarious or anything (she was more the opposite, really... I'd peg her as more of a bookworm than anything; a bookworm with an edge), but given how easily a quick smile came to her father, it seemed like she'd be able to take after that trait. I was sure she had reason for it, but I didn't pry to learn. Again, not very experienced in the whole 'friendship' thing. I didn't know if I should ask or not, so I just plain didn't. "If you can't sleep," Lex tried, "want to do a bit of stargazing on the roof? I enjoy that every now and again."

"I dunno," I muttered. "I was just going to... I dunno, think or something."

"Come on," Lex urged me, "there's a lovely meteor shower tonight! Come watch it with me."

I couldn't tell her my real reason for dismissing the idea. Rooftops made me think about Zim too much. The fight we'd had on the flat part of the roof back at my house, the kiss that had come afterward... the day that had started our date, when he'd ushered me up there and we watched the sun rise; the morning before his days as a human came to an end. In the back of my mind, I'd been kind of saving the roof for the next time I'd see him, but the longer I waited, the less likely a reunion seemed. Like Tak would let him be human again anyway. Bitch.

In the end, though, I agreed, if only because stargazing meant something more than 'check out that constellation' to me now. It meant really looking for something. Watching, actually. Never knew when a ship might land again. Maybe my brother was somewhere accesible by an Irken vessel, too, I thought. I could even watch for him. Plus, I did like falling meteors. As much as I liked anything (which wasn't much at all, but it was something to occupy time).

I was surprised, and initially a little irked, to find that we weren't the only ones who had thought to watch from the roof. Tenn and Nacea were there already, each having secured a spot on the edge of the flat roof of the headquarters building. Tenn was lying down, her hands folded behind her head as a pillow, her legs splayed out flat. She was definitely _watching,_ as I'd been planning to do. In fact, I wasn't sure if I'd ever seen her so contemplative. The news about Miyuki had struck her as odd, too, and I'd hardly spoken to her (like I'd spoken to her much at all in the first place) since that first 'panel' meeting. Nacea was cross-legged and meditating with her eyes open and on the horizon. I hadn't really talked to her, either. I had no idea how she was feeling about Dib's absence. She'd said she couldn't get a reading from him, which, in my opinion, just meant he was on another planet or something. I kind of had to hand it to both of them for sticking around anyway, even though they did bother me somewhat.

For the night, though, I dealt with them. We didn't speak much, but we made a silent pact that we were all just up on the roof to watch the shooting stars. It was a beautiful display, I had to admit. Even more than that, I had to admit that I kind of liked having people to share that moment with. Not my first choice of people, but it was nice just having others there.

Especially when the sky caught fire.

One instant, we were just watching meteors pass through orbit from a safe distance, enjoying the display like some people enjoy fireworks (I actually got that analogy from Lex, who had admitted to being a firework lover), and then the next, an object sailed directly overhead, leaving in its wake a path of smoke and fire. Each of us had a different reaction. Nacea let out a soft cry, Lex yelped out an involuntary expletive or two. Tenn leapt to her feet.

I watched.

"Tenn..?" I asked, and realized that my voice was shaking. "Tenn, what the hell was that?"

Lex and Nacea got to their feet on their own, but Lex had to help me up, since I was apparently doing much more than watching the line of fire, I was gaping. I thanked her numbly, and turned to the only Irken among us. "Tenn, do you..?"

"Yeah," she said, peering past the trees. "It's—"

Well, whatever it was, I couldn't hear the rest of what she said, since my ears became deaf to everything but the horrible crash that followed. Sirens blared in the distance, and I knew it wasn't a fire signal from the town... it was a distress signal from something we hadn't designed here on Earth. A spacecraft had crashed in our town, and this time, there was no way the ignorant people that inhabited our little city could ignore it.

I froze inside, and found myself crying out for my brother. He'd know what to do. He'd be all over that.

I fell forward, but the other three caught me, and before I knew it, I was being rushed back down the stairs. Within the grand hall, red warning lights had gone on, and people were milling about in a frenzy. There was no panic from anyone but our small group of four, however. That was when it really became apparent that I was dealing with paranormal professionals. They had codes for this kind of thing. Dib wasn't the only one.

If only he could've witnessed that evening.

Professor Haynsworth caught up to us and pulled us into his office, where he told us to stay put. "Professor, what's going on?" I demanded.

"We aren't entirely sure," he answered, taking up his crossbow and testing it to be sure the safety was off. "General Brakem has issued a call that some of us stand guard around the perimeter. Gaz, while you are in charge here, please take my advice into account when I say that what this complex needs most is wired security."

I nodded numbly. An electric fence or something. Invisible lasers. Whatever. Just something to keep unwanted things out.

"Professor," Tenn spoke up, "if I can be of any service, I think I know where that thing came from."

He nodded stoically, strapped the crossbow across his back and a quiver of arrows to a belt round his waist, then began to leave as he said, "Then, by all means, miss Tenn, I'll lead you to the General. I'm sure he will appreciate your assistance."

"Daddy, I'm coming, too!" Lex insisted. Somewhere in the confusion and frenzy, she and I had linked arms, but I hadn't noticed and really didn't mind. Otherwise, I doubt I'd even have been able to stand on my own, since possibilities of what that thing was and what could happen because of the crash kept on flitting like insects through my head.

"No, Lex, dear, you've got to stay here," her father advised. We were making our way out toward the grand hall's back entrance, and he turned just enough to speak firmly to Lex on the matter. "The General only has a few called in for this, and I'd rather you stay here."

"But—"

"Alexandria, mind what I tell you!"

Lex stopped, which made me stop, too. Nacea, who had been behind us and had kept up a steady jogging pace to remain a part of the conversation, bumped into me from the side. I didn't even care. I couldn't be mad at her for that. I just had to know what was going on.

Then, the worst of it hit me: "That thing crashed in town!" I screamed. "My dad's still there!"

I then saw a little exchange of a green-eyed glance between father and daughter, and then Lex shouted, "You're not even going to be on guard at all, you're—"

"Someone's got to head out there, and the General isn't bright enough to make that call," the Professor said grimly. "Tenn, if you can identify the object, come with me."

"Daddy—"

"I have my mobile, darling, and the city isn't far. I'll stay in touch and be back as soon as I can." Turning his glace, which was still calming despite how incredibly focused and strong those scholarly eyes of his looked in the face of distress, the Professor then said to me, "If your father has come out of his ten-year stupor at all, I'm hoping to get him to lend a hand, at least in this one crisis."

I nodded. My eyes were too dry to tear up. I twisted my ring around with my thumb frantically and listened to the pulse of my heart in my eardrums. "I'm assuming you know where we live?" I said hollowly.

"That I do."

Figured. "Even if he doesn't help," I fumbled out, "just make sure Dad's safe, okay?"

"I'm sure he is," Professor Haynsworth smiled. "He's too smart to get caught in the crossfire of something like this."

Plus, I realized, Dad had powerful telescopes in both of his labs. He'd be the most likely of anyone in town to have seen that thing coming, and I was confident that he had, and that he'd been prepared. I just had to hold my breath and wait again.

After he hugged his daughter goodbye, Professor Haynsworth left the building, and then the complex, easily slinking past the rest of the reps set around the border as General Brakem had ordered. Tenn went with him, but not before she whispered to me that what had crashed was definitely a ship of Vortian origin. Vort itself had been long since conquered by the Irkens, so the coming of a ship from there could be either great or devastating for us here on Earth.

Either way, it was going to draw attention.

I watched as the Organization's finest left to secure the complex grounds. Agents Cthulhu and Bloodrose were sent out, as were much of the Board, like Barclay and Desmarais, and many reps from abroad like Agents Cabral, Dorokhin, Sokoll, Khouri, Medeiros and Matsuoka, as well as both of the de Garmeaux. I noticed that the youngest of us were the ones left back at the dorms, but there was one adult I knew would still be around who could enact orders from the inside.

Keeping Lex and Nacea around as a buffer, especially just in case Nacea could get a reading, and especially after Lex rushed back to our room to grab her own crossbow ("just in case," she said, and I grabbed my old, familiar daggers for the exact same reason), I stormed us around looking for Agent Baudelaire.

Brakem was too dumb to make the call to send people out, though, huh? Well, then.

I wasn't.

My heart felt like it was burning, and I felt a weird itch between my shoulderblades, but I ignored everything. I've always been good at ignoring certain feelings; I could ignore the odd discomfort. Because I had to know what the fuck that fire was. The fire, the explosion, the ship.

I twisted my ring around and around and around again. I had to know who, or at least what species, had been on board. Sure, a ship could be Vortian in origin, but they designed fleet vessels for the Irkens now. And it could have been a commandeered ship very easily.

When Charlotte Baudelaire finally caught up to us, I shouted at her, "Charlotte! Get scout teams together, or whatever it is you do! I want to know about that ship! Send out whoever the fuck the experts are and investigate the hell outta that thing. And have them call me the second they get close. And send photos, too. I want every little _detail_ about that ship and the crash site!" As an afterthought, I added, "And make damn sure they help around the town, too! I don't want to go home to a burnt apocalyptic wasteland."

Charlotte smiled.

"What?" I barked.

"Nothing," she laughed. "You're your father's daughter after all. Or, rather, your brother's sibling."

Huh. No kidding.

And so it was that I became invested in the Corporation, if only for highly selfish reasons. Because something was telling me that this ship was going to bring with it news of Zim. Maybe even Dib. Either way, the crashed ship was enough to get my mind the hell off of my ridiculous past for a while.

And I'd come to learn just how right I was in the change-filled days to come.

– – –

– – –

**Author's Note:**

Super early post today as I am out and about tonight! Ahh… Gaz watched the same spectacle Zim did in last week's update. And you know that that can only lead to… :3

So! Super incredible amazing news: _Part One: Changes_ has just reached _over 3,000 hits!_ Three-zero-zero-zero. I am… FLOORED. In awe. Supersuper humbled. That's _awesome,_ and I am so insanely happy that my little story that I'd been so nervous to post up until now has been read so much! So thank you guys, seriously, like crazy, that makes me so happy… ^^ Thank you to everyone who has read and re-read, and a big welcome to all new readers, too~! Gaaah, love everywhere.

I really want to start churning _Part Two_ out so we can get to the fun parts of this one sooooon, and oh, are they ever coming. Which is why, though I apologize for this being only a single-chapter update again (and how slow this part is to start, haha had kind of forgotten that), _Transitions_ will update again this **Sunday, August 7****th****,** and then again at its usual Friday time! :3

I can't say this enough, though: to everyone who reads, thank you~! You are awesome. :D

(And **spoiler** plug: reunion's on its way next week… ^/^)

~Jizena~

(And non-sequitur: I saw _Cowboys and Aliens_ last night. I sure do love a good ol' crazy space movie. XD)

– – –


	6. Training 2: Hall of Mirrors

– – –

**Author's Note:**

_Invader Zim_ is -c- Jhonen Vasquez! Only the events of this story, characters specific to the story, and character tweaking (heh) are mine. :3

~Jizena~

– – –

_Dib's Records_

Time passed abnormally in the dimension in which Miyuki was training me. Though neither sun nor moon rose and set there, I could feel each day passing by, despite the fact that I usually counted the end of a 'day' being when I became too exhausted from training to continue. Days, therefore, went much faster than they would have on Earth.

The whole place felt like purgatory to me. Especially since I never seemed to get hungry or anything like that. I only slept because I knew it would pass time when I'd get fatigued, and it was the easiest escape from Miyuki.

Every once in a while, we'd pause in training (usually when I got too frustrated to continue) and talk about the past. What that usually amounted to was me shouting at her, and Miyuki attempting to calm me down by sharing a fond memory and apologizing for not being around for my childhood. More often than not, I'd snap at her about that and have her leave me alone so I could meditate.

My mantra was this: _just put up with it until you get to go home._

Throughout training, it seemed that no matter what I did, no matter how much I managed to suck it up and accept what it was I had to do, Miyuki was always one step ahead of me.

Oh, she was training me fine. There just always seemed like there was that _one more thing_ she wanted me to do. Every time I'd get winded, or feel like I had to stop and recharge, Miyuki would be at me again with more drills. Create more rapid-fire energy blasts. Run faster. Run _faster._ Run faster _while gathering energy._ It made me incredibly irate, and the more riled I got, the more easily I was able to go ahead and do what she was telling me. I even knew that she was doing it to set me off. She right _admitted_ that once when I was (once again) reluctant to create another of those static energy blasts.

I'd been drilled on them constantly, that ability more than any. I'd learned other useful things, too. How to teleport, for one. It was another Irken PAK function, and could be used in two ways: one for long distances (which was a bitch), and one while engaging in battle as a form of a quick lurge to put someone ahead of an enemy. Miyuki called the latter a _surge step,_ as it was still a form of running, just with a little extra burst of energy needed. Teleporting itself was just like meditation. Focus on a spot long enough and carry myself there in my mind first. I figured that one might get easier once I was back in a place with, oh, landmarks. As for the surge, again, it was easier when provoked. Run _(faster, faster, that's not fast enough!),_ breath in, focus on the spot ahead of the target, or to whichever side, and cheat the terrain. To gather energy, I needed to concentrate and borrow it from the air around me; to surge step or teleport, I had to do the opposite. It was like lending myself to the air—I had to allow natural energy to bear down more weight on me (and, yes, it was easier to do the faster I got, since it was easier to feel the air flow and go with or against it), and ultimately shove me into a different location.

Those energy blasts, though, were tough to get the hang of. Mainly because I was never distracted enough to keep my mind off of the fact that what I was doing was the heightened form of a simple PAK laser shot. All Tallest, Miyuki told me, could manipulate energy this way, because of the superior equipment allotted them. The more she actually used words like _Irken, Tallest_ and _PAKs, _the more my back hurt when I used that ability. I'd always get to the point where I'd snap and scream.

"I hate the feeling I get with it!" I shouted at Miyuki once she'd been drilling me for, what I counted to be, three days. "Ever since you mentioned that thing about the PAK, it makes me nauseous just _thinking_ about it."

"I understand," said Miyuki, not unkindly, "which is precisely why you must train yourself. Otherwise, you can never overcome it. I apologize that I must resort to provoking you into action, but—"

"You've been pushing my limits on _purpose?"_ I hollered, outraged.

"Think about what you just said, dear."

"God fucking dammit, I hate you!" I shouted back.

Miyuki shirked back a little upon hearing that, which struck me as odd just considering how she'd handled training so far. She'd been _drilling me._ Constantly. With no hint of love other than the occasional and almost out of place word of endearment, and a story from the past here and there, but those usually got me mad at her all over again anyway. She was going to great lengths, it seemed, to separate us, despite her insistence that I carry out her old plan to liberate the Empire.

"What's the _point?"_ I went on. "Obviously, you want me to sympathize with you, but the more we go on, the more I'm disinclined to do that. Why use my... you know, my..."

"PAK?" Miyuki prompted.

"Sh-sh-sh, no, yeah, that," I said hurriedly, holding a hand up so as to stop her from saying any more along those disconcerting lines. "Why train to use it if technically all it's doing is using me?"

"It's a part of you, and one you must learn to control," said Miyuki. "If you don't want it using you, _ignore it._ Accept that these abilities are yours _by right,_ rather than a foreign influence. How do you control your Meekrob powers?"

"Breath and concentration," I snapped.

"Then let that be true of your inate power as well," Miyuki suggested, trying to remain patient with me. "You have already introduced an alien form of power to your system and accepted it as your own; you have become comfortable and confident with what it can allow you to feel and do. What is so different that you—"

"What's _different,"_ I spat, "is that I _hate Irkens._ Anything to _do_ with them. I keep telling you this, but y—"

"Then your problem is with yourself," said Miyuki flatly.

"Bullshit it's with myself, it's—"

"By refusing to accept what you are, you admit to fearing and disliking yourself," said Miyuki, sounding ever so slightly more motherly than she had throughout the rest of the conversation.

"I don't hate myself!" I screamed at her in denial. "It's _you_ I'm pissed at! You and Dad! You're both liars, and you both want me following your way so badly, but if Dad's 'real science' work is all a joke anyway and if you're an ex-Tallest, I—_can't! Miyuki, I fucking hate you! I can't!"_

I felt a little bad for hollering those things at her, but I was of the age when shouting out one's troubles is sometimes the best form of personal therapy. My back burned and I leered at Miyuki, my hands clenching to form fists as the desire to beat her senseless for her lies and absence rose. She steeled herself, which I took to be an invitation to attack her, so I took it. I raised my right fist and had a clean shot...

...But I stopped myself short when Miyuki blocked herself with the sudden appearance of a large mirror in front of her. I stumbled back so as not to knock my fist into the glass, and as I did, a circle of mirrors surrounded me. I was too panicked to notice anything odd (other than the fact that somehow without warning they were just plain _there)_ about the shining panes of glass surrounding me; I was aware only that I was trapped, and was superstitious enough to not want to break a single one.

"MIYUKI!" I shouted. My back burned and almost involuntarily I gathered up a spark of energy in both fists. My vision flashed red for a second before I shook my head and demanded that the world stay in natural colors. "What the hell is this?"

"You tell me," she called from behind the mirrored wall.

"It's a bunch of fucking mirrors! I want to know why!"

"I'll tell you when you find the source," Miyuki answered. "This Mirror can reveal much about a person..."

"Like wha—"

"Just break 'em down," I heard myself say. I drew in a gasp and whirled around, immediately dismissing the energy I'd gathered back into the air without a blast. The voice had been mine, yes, but younger. Four years younger, to be exact, I realized, when I found myself staring at a mirror reflecting myself at age ten. The reflection moved of its own accord, and advised me, "Don't let an Irken get her way."

"Just go with it," my voice came again, this time from a few panels to my left. I whipped my head in that direction and saw myself as I had the last time I'd looked in a mirror. This reflection, too, spoke and moved of its own volition. "Like it matters anyway."

"Miyuki—" I called out again. I hadn't realized how frightened the mirrors' presence had shaken me to be until I spoke. My voice wavered, and though I wanted to shut my eyes I couldn't.

"Find the source, dear," she told me again.

"What do you mean by that?" My voice had come out softer still.

But Miyuki had heard me. "The root Mirror is called the Mirror of Truth," she answered. "It is an artifact I was given long ago, and one that finds me time and again when I am in this dimension. I had need of it, and thus it has returned to me."

"Mirror of Truth?" I repeated.

"Some call it that, at any rate. Look around, dear, and see if you understand why."

Sucking it up—and scared into doing so—I took in a deep breath and glanced around at each individual mirror, wondering what _the source_ could possibly mean.

I was reminded of the portrait room back at the Headquarters building, though of course the effect was much more eerie, since every face I looked upon was mine. I saw myself as a child—four years old, afraid and abandoned; six; eight; ten, steadfast and resilient against the new Irken threat. I saw my reflection from only a year ago, on the cusp of accepting my Meekrob gift; it was the mirror directly to the side of the one that reflected me on that very day, newly fourteen, inundated with far too many responsibilities. Frightening, but reasonable, was the mirror that showed my reflection—I guessed—two years from that day, at sixteen, the age I'd accidentally experienced during the Incident.

"Do you need help finding what you're looking for?" came a voice, again from behind me. It was lower, calmer, more experienced and rather scholarly. I sighed and turned around, only to choke on my breath again when I came face-to-face with a mirror much different than the others. This one was framed, seeming to be carved in futuristic antiquity... that was the only way I could think to describe it. Roccoco came to mind, but so did an idealized, industrial future along the lines that we on Earth were already heading, and which the Irkens had more or less already achieved.

The frame was haunting in and of itself, in a beautiful metal that reminded me of Gaz's daggers (and instantly made me miss my sister like crazy), but what got me even more was the reflection it displayed. It was still me, but several years older. I looked behind me at the rest of the mirrors again, and each of them fell one by one back into the void until I looked up at the framed reflection again. I found myself no longer interested in taking things out on Miyuki. An older reflection of me had spoken. I wanted to know what he had to say.

The exact age was hard to determine. The man reflected could have been anywhere between twenty-five and forty, depending on how I chose to look at him. Despite all of the obvious similarities, it was very hard to convince myself that that person was me. He looked calmer, for one; his expression was so relaxed, rather than how stressed I always felt and looked, and his eyes glinted a kind of wisdom I knew I did not currently possess. This person had seen and experienced things that I could now only speculate upon, knowing I was most likely about to face many of them in the days and months to come. He looked very... professional—dressed for business, half-red eyes alert, though tired to the point of being telling of experience and age, behind thin oval glasses.

I found myself fumbling to correct my own, rounder ones, as they'd fallen somewhat down the bridge of my nose, only to find that my vision blurred somewhat behind the larger frames of glass. In that instant, I realized I hadn't been fighting back against Miyuki during training by relying on my eyes at all. Everything had been sensory. I'd been learning something after all. And the reward was slightly improved vision.

Not as sharp as an Irken's, not yet, but slightly clearer than the level of nearsightedness I'd grown used to by now. Which meant that, subconsciously, I had done exactly what Miyuki had been trying to get me to do: ignore the Irken influence and just take things as they came as an extension of myself.

"I... need help," I decided on answering my reflection's question from what now seemed like hours earlier, I'd been so lost in studying him.

He laughed and folded his arms. My heart skipped when I noticed, just as a glimmer, a thickish silver band of a ring on his left hand. I couldn't focus on that, though (even though it did weird me out thinking about the future in those regards... I'd tried so hard not to even think about girls lately that marriage was the last thing on my mind), and instead kept on studying his expression. So calm. _So fucking calm._ "It's always best to turn to oneself for advice," said my reflection, "but I'll advise you not to cheat too much by talking to me."

"Hold up, hold up, are you _really,_ y'know, me?" I wondered. "Or am I seriously going crazy this time?"

"You aren't crazy," my reflection assured me, "and yes."

"But you're just a _suggestion_ of me," I tried.

"Believe what you will," said my reflection, his voice steady and sure as the image he put forth, "but don't waste your time worrying about this reflection too much. Focus on your present, and your immediate future. What have you learned? What do you know?"

"About Irkens?" I wondered, captivated by the conversation, though I still did wonder how it was possible.

"About anything."

"I, uh... I know that..." I sighed. "I know that Irkens and humans have some kind of... similarity. Miyuki said something about sister races. So did Nacea."

"Ah." I glanced back up at my reflection, who stood a couple of inches taller than me. Wait... I'd been 5'11" during the Incident. I wasn't going to grow _more,_ was I? And besides, even if I was, or wasn't, I definitely hadn't felt tall enough to almost compete with that suggested height when Miyuki had taken me from the complex.

Suddenly, the growth spurts made sense. Son of a Tallest, and all...

"Then you should understand," said my reflection, "that all things fall into a balance. Someday, every race will see that. Only when all, regardless, can sense and understand that, will we be able to put an end to the struggles we face."

"What are you talking about?" I wondered.

"Haven't you been told by now? You have the power to change things," said my reflection, showing a knowing smile. "You only need to accept that you do."

"I don't want to accept that I'm Irken!" I shouted.

"Then what do you want?"

"I want—" I paused for a second, then sighed, knowing the obvious answer. "I just want to protect Earth. I don't want my species or my planet to die. I-I feel like I'm the head of my own family, and also the head of something bigger than just that. I mean, obviously, I've got the Corporation to think of. I feel like I'm wasting time here, but at the same time, I... using Irken abilities hurts.

"It _hurts,"_ I went on, staring my reflection down as best I could while looking slightly up. "Mentally and physically, it _really hurts._ I've been against Irkens all this time, and now I've been using some kind of inate hyperawareness to become more like them, and I can't stand it. No, I don't want the Irken Brains to control me like they do the other soldiers, but I'm still too scared to rise above it."

"Then you admit it."

"Huh?"

"You're afraid."

I drew in a breath, and shut myself up. Both of me. My reflection remained silent while I took a moment to chew it over. Yes. I was scared out of my mind. Because I knew that, no matter what, someday I'd have to accept the truth of my past. The truth of my fucking DNA.

"Yeah," I admitted. "I am afraid. I'm afraid of what'll happen if I do accept it, and even more afraid of what'll happen if I don't."

"Then continue taking a human approach to things," my reflection advised. "Understand, however, that you must sympathize somewhat, and know that not all Irkens are your opponents."

"Well, most of 'em are," I scoffed. _Then use what you're learning against them,_ I advised myself. _There's an idea._

"Don't you have Irken friends?" my reflection prompted. "Not all are bad."

"Well, _a_ friend," I corrected. "Tenn's an ally, but—"

"There are others."

I groaned. "If you're talking about Zim..." I warned.

"Don't discount him as an ally," my reflection advised. "Him or any other Irkens you may meet."

"He's not an _ally!"_ I shouted. "He sided with _Tak!_ They're working together and any minute now they're going to launch an attack on Earth and I can't waste any more time here because I've got to stop them, and I've got to stop the whole damn Empire—"

"The only way to stop it," said my reflection, "is to take charge."

"Right! Which is what I'm doing. So—"

My reflection shook his head, grinned, and then was enveloped in a blue light. Two seconds later, the Mirror showed instead an Irken Tallest. I cried out and stumbled back, but kept my eyes fixed to the spot. I caught only that brief glimpse before the reflection then showed me, as I was, showing as any old mirror would the exact expression I wore, the exact moves I made.

I _had_ grown. Just a little, just enough. The red in my eyes was coming out more. The features of my face seemed a little more defined, my shoulders looked slightly broader. Whatever Miyuki was drilling me with, it was carving me into a little more of an image of a leader. More than anything, I noticed that my reflection looked a little more trustworthy, a little more knowledgable.

Miyuki's reflection appeared behind mine, and I turned to face her, noticing for the first time in the past couple of days that somehow we'd come to be almost eye-to-eye in height. "Did you find the source?" she asked me.

I sighed on a hum. "Source of the mirrors was that one," I answered, gesturing behind me, "and the source of my fear and frustration really is myself. I'm still reluctant, Miyuki, but I saw an Irken reflection and I'm not about to let things get to that point." I shook my head to get that lasting image out of my mind. "I refuse to _become_ Irken, but I'll use whatever you teach me so that I won't have to be."

Miyuki smiled, and patted my arm. "Very good," she complimented me. "I'm not asking you to give up on being human at all, dear. I adore the human race. I became a part of it, and want to return, myself. Don't let go of _you._ Just overcome your frustration, or you'll be fighting an internal battle forever." I nodded, trying to look over the rims of my glasses now that I knew that my vision had changed just a little.

"All right!" Miyuki chimed, walking past me as the Mirror dissolved into the void as its copies had done. "Back to training!"

"I thought that whole weird mirror thing meant I was done for the day!" I called over.

"You could be, but it would be in your best interests to speed things up."

"Why?"

"You're going to have to put these abilities to use much sooner than you think."

Great. Wonderful. Fuck.

– – –


	7. Summer Heat 3: One Step Closer

– – –

**Author's Note:**

_Invader Zim_ is -c- Jhonen Vasquez! Only the events of this story, characters specific to the story, and character tweaking (heh) are mine. :3

~Jizena~

– – –

_Zim's Records_

I swiftly lost position as leader of our Irken outcast group the closer we got to the town. Purple's light feet carried him ahead of all of us; he was driven by the path of the smoke signal from the downed ship, and his sharp eyes did not lose focus for a single second. Red was the one looking a little concerned, by the time we cleared the last of the trees and found ourselves on a clear hill overlooking a city.

A very, very familiar city.

"Oh, no..." I said under my breath.

I stopped short and stared out over the skyline. I knew it well, all right. I'd spent plenty of time there, after all. Somewhere in that city was an old, abandoned Irken base of operations, with a front lawn littered with garishly oversized lawn gnomes and horrid, telling wires leeching power from the apartment buildings on either side.

Unless, of course, the ship had crashed right into that base. I ruled that out quickly, though, remembering that I had rigged up my old Doomsday device, MiniMoose to the base that would blow that chunk of the city sky high if it were to be disturbed. Kind of regretted doing that now, but with any luck, MiniMoose wouldn't function the way it was supposed to and nothing would come of the intended explosion.

Further down the street from that base was a home I'd been a guest in for about a week. So, of course, only one thing came to mind now. Luck had landed us near the same city I'd first touched down in, and hopefully cruel irony hadn't destroyed the person I wanted to return to see.

"GAZ!" I cried out before I could stop myself. While I'd stopped short upon first coming upon the city, I now broke into a sprint, darting past Purple and down the hill toward town.

"Zim!" Red shouted after me. "What's going on?"

"I KNOW THIS TOWN!" I shouted back at him, not breaking my pace for a second.

My heart was pounding. The back of my mind flashed for a second, trying to show me a similar devastation, or at least an awful conflagration in another foreign city on a planet I couldn't place, but I shook the unfamiliar memory away. No time for that. No time for anything. The only thought in my mind was, _Please be safe, please be safe, please be safe..._

"Stay strong," I whispered as I ran. "I'm coming. Just hold on..."

"Zim, get back here!" I heard Red holler. The two sets of rushing footsteps behind me told me that the Tallest were keeping up even paces, Purple darting forward with twice as many steps in order to match Red's longer strides.

"No!" I shouted. From his perspective, I was probably being rash and unreasonable, and maybe I was, but the Tallest were handling themselves well. And the town was most likely in a panic. No one would bother to look closely to see how different they were than anyone else. I worried a little about GIR being exposed, but now that I looked fully human, I was sure I could concoct some new government experiment lie to cover for my robot.

At the bottom of a hill was a long wire fence, put up as a border. I sent GIR ahead to confirm that it wasn't electrified, but the dutiful little guy went a step beyond what I'd asked and blasted the thing down with a triumphant, _"WOO!"_

"I'm not asking you, Zim, this is an _order!"_ Red tried this time.

"Not gonna work right now, sir!"

"Yes it—_IS—!"_ On that last word, I was hauled back by the elbows. I gave a little yelp, as the sudden tug disturbed my wounded right arm, and quickly shook myself free from Red's vice grip and whirled around to challenge him. He was more than ready for me, though, and he snapped, "So were you just planning on leaving us behind? What's so great about this place?"

"It's the city I set up base in," I told him, my heart still beating in a frenzy.

"Okay, that's kind of a good thing, since you can lead us around. But why run ahead like that?"

"There's someone who lives here that I—" Oh. I clamped my mouth shut, and glanced from Red to Purple. The first looked furious, the latter just knowing. "Sir, I'm sorry, I..."

"You were fraternizing with the enemy..?" Red scrutinized me, staring me down.

"Sir, let me expl—"

"You could've blown everything!" the Tallest shouted. "You'd better _hope_ you can stay here as a human because you're certainly not welcome in the Empire anymore!"

"Red, sir, I meant no—"

"Well, it's done and over with!" Purple snapped, yanking us apart. I'd forgotten not to underestimate his strength based on his size. Red and I both stared down at him, and Purple continued without letting either of us go. "I agree with Red that we approach with caution, but we _need_ to investigate that crash site. Zim, you're staying with us for now, so just keep an eye out for whoever it was you knew."

I sighed. Like he and Red would ever understand my reasons, anyway, I thought.

"Now," Purple went on, "if you know this town, you can navigate us through it. It's fortunate that things worked out like this."

"It's fortunate I haven't strangled you yet," Red muttered.

"Shut up," Purple barked up at him. "This isn't really the right time to be a jerk, Red."

Red just snorted and smacked Purple's hand away to release himself from his partner's grip. Purple then slowly let go of me while Red looked over the city from our closer but still safe distance away. "Hey, Zim," he said, his voice at a more even speaking volume now.

"Yes?"

"Are humans supposed to have a really strong sense of smell?"

"Stronger than Irkens, yes."

"Hmph, thought so," said Red. "The flames from the crash definitely caught and are rising. Technically speaking, we shouldn't go anywhere near that ship."

"It seems like a backward step, sir," I agreed, "but if we're going to survive from now on, we have to. Besides, I know people here. People who might help us." _If we ask really, really nicely... maybe beg a little..._

Gaz would hopefully be on board to help. I just had to hold onto the hope that she was all right, that she was nowhere near the crash site. Somehow, I expected that Dib would survive it, and was probably investigating the damn thing already. His help would come with a hefty price, I was sure, but the possibility that he might was still there. That all depended on how he'd react once I told him everything about Tak, and convinced him (which would probably take a long time) that I was never siding with her again.

So we pressed onward, GIR taking a slight lead on my command, since he was unaffected by changes in the air but could still tell whether or not a place was safe to be. The city itself still stood tall and sturdy, meaning that the crash had happened closer to the suburbs, which was exactly what I was afraid of. The closeness of the crisis, however, had flung the familiar city into a panic. Sirens blared, red lights flashed, dogs were going crazy at all volumes of barks and howls, and humans weren't reacting any less brashly. Cars were either abandoned or being driven recklessly through the streets, men, women and children tore about shrieking about the 'meteor or something' that had crashed just out of town. Some people were just going about their business, though... cops convinced that it was only a helicopter and that the state would deal with it, teenagers with headphones on who probably hadn't noticed a thing, kids who couldn't know danger even when it hit.

Nobody stared at GIR. Nobody asked questions. The three of us walked more or less invisibly through town, and I skirted us through back streets, away from the horrible drivers, until we made it to the part of town that separated the city from the suburbs. There were a few complexes in that area before we hit the grid of roads that led to the residential part of town; some were businesses, one was the elementary school, and the other was the city hospital.

Apparently, the hospital was the busiest place in town. As we passed by, Purple slowed to a halt and stared. The air was becoming more and more dense as we made our way closer to the suburbs, and here at the hospital, I noticed a few trees that had been singed by cinders rising up from the crash site. Ambulances wailed in and out, and several cars were parked almost literally on top of one another in the parking lots and on the streets around the hospital complex itself. "Something wrong?" I asked Purple, stopping myself from calling him _sir_ at the last second.

"I'm sure there is," he answered, dutifully studying the activity in the parking lot. Orderlies came and went as people were rushed through the emergency room doors; families clung to each other, people wered desperately dialing on their cell phones, guards were placed around to assure an easy flow of foot traffic.

The city hospital was rather large—an unsightly concrete building, and one I had visited before, back during the Warp, when I was given my first scare of a near-death experience for Gaz. It stood on a fairly long stretch of paved land, and was built up to ten stories, depending on which segment one was in. Sliding glass doors marked the entrance to the two-storey emergency wing, near which we now stood, watching the scene from the lot.

I heard Red mutter something about the inefficiency of the small vehicles, and how dumb it was that they couldn't fly, but Purple and I ignored him. I was focused mainly on how many people were being rushed into the building. As we approached, I took a survey of what seemed to be wrong with everyone gaining entrance. Several people were severely burned, but many others were covered with deep scratch marks, in a jagged, three-line pattern.

"Out of the way!" a woman wearing a white lab coat called over to us, and I forced the Tallest to walk forward with me as the woman rushed by with a team to help carry someone else in. This figure was female as well, and fairly young-looking. She was covered in deep scratch marks, and was given over to the doctors' care by a man who could only have been her husband. Clinging to his leg, was a little girl, probably only about four years old, with blonde pigtails.

The little girl turned her head, and was the first person who gave us notice (other than the doctor who had told us to get out of the way). The girl's wide stare got me a little nervous, wondering if we looked out of place, but then she smiled, left her father, and walked over to us, as we weren't too far away.

"Hi," she said shyly.

"Zim, what is that?" I heard Red mutter into my ear.

"She's just a kid, hold on," I assured him. Kneeling to the girl's level I said, "Hey, there. You shouldn't wander away, you know."

The girl took an extra hair elastic out of her dress pocket and started twisting it around. She nodded, still looking shy, then glanced over at GIR, then back at me, then back at GIR again. GIR stuck his tongue out and waved, and the little girl laughed. I heard Red groan, then choke as Purple most likely elbowed him in the ribs to get him to shut up. "I don't suppose," I tried to ask the girl, "you have any idea what's going on, do you?"

The girl nodded. When I asked her again, slowly, she answered, "A big thing came out of the sky and now there's a big fire."

Yeah, a four-year-old probably wasn't my best source of information.

"I see. Um..."

Before I could say any more, the girl looked up at Red and Purple. I stood, wanting to stop any unnecessary confrontation before it could happen, especially when the toddler shirked back at the sight of Red. He did look pretty damn intimidating, I had to give him that, even with how awkward he let on that he was about his glasses. Purple seemed to put the girl more at ease, though, and she cocked hear head, studying him before she held her hand up to offer him the elastic. Purple glanced over at me, and I shrugged, suggesting that taking it would be the proper thing to do. Regally, the shortest of us bent to collect the elastic band, wearing an expression of moderate confusion.

"For your hair," said the little girl, gesturing to her own pigtails. "Like mine."

"Oh," said Purple. He managed a smile and a, "Thank you," before the girl smiled and scampered away when her father called to her. Purple stared off in their direction for a lingering couple of seconds, then brushed his hands through the long, sleek black part of his hair before tying it back into a low ponytail at the nape of his neck. Tightening the elastic into place, he remarked, "Well, that feels better. Now, come on, let's figure out how all this relates to the crash."

Checking again to make doubly sure that the Tallest would both be able to hold up a natural conversation with a 'fellow human,' I led the way toward the emergency room doors, where we were stopped by a guard wearing an obscenely large helment emblazoned with a red cross. This town had an odd knack for overdressing anyone in a position of safety or peacekeeping. This particular guard looked to be middle-aged, and he carried both a pocket radio transmissioner and a mini computer, which he checked as often as a man in a rush will check his watch, most likely because it gave this guard constant updates on hospital goings-on.

"Excuse me," I greeted. "Hello. What happened here? We—"

"You a victim, too?" the guard asked me.

"Eh? Victim?"

"Arm's pretty scratched up, there, kid," he noted.

"I, eh—oh," I said, cupping my left hand briefly over my right arm. The cloth was nearly soaked through, which was something I hadn't noticed in all the excitement of heading into the town. "No, I'm fine, I just, um... ran into a tree." That excuse was lame when I first came up with it, and it was lame now. But it worked.

The guard rolled his eyes. "Kids," he muttered.

"What happened here?" I asked again.

"You just wake up or somethin'?" the guard asked me, looking me over with an odd glare. "UFO crashed a couple hours ago, been seeing a steady flow of people comin' in here ever since. Crashed right into the high school, demolished the whole building, and a couple around it."

The high school. How old was Gaz now? I knew it was summer, but she hadn't been nearby, had she? I remembered from the Warp how far the school was from her house, which was a good thing, but still...

"Who's in charge?" I asked, taking a more direct approach.

"Of the hospital?"

"No, of securing the crash site. The local cops, or the state government, or—?"

The guard shook his heads. "Mayor did a little," he answered, pausing to wave in a team of orderlies who had just arrived with a man on a gurney. I noticed, as the gurney rolled by, that the man lying on it had incurred an awful scratch wound across his face in three jagged lines. My stomach lurched, but I swallowed down whatever bile wanted to rise. "Some cops're in place round there now, but the whole town'd probably be in sour shape without Professor Membrane."

"Membrane?"

"Yeah, that Professor's always got something," said the guard. "Listen, kid, are you gonna go inside and stitch that arm up, or are you just gonna stand here asking me questions all night?"

"Just one more question," I begged. The man rolled his eyes. "Are there any paranormal experts investigating the crash?" I figured I sounded dumb enough at the moment, anyway, might as well go for completely crazy.

"Para—oh... oh!" Suddenly, I wasn't quite so much of a nuisance to the large-helmeted man. "You must be with them! Sorry, are you here to check in on things?"

"Eh? I—I mean, yes!" I covered quickly, though I had to wonder what he meant.

"That's a relief," the guard said. "That Swollen Eyeball Corporation is weird, but I had a man from that organization pass through here a few minutes ago..."

"And we're here to complete the study," I heard Purple say smoothly from behind me. He was very astute, I had to hand him that. He'd picked up on the gist of where I was trying to drive the conversation, despite the fact that I hadn't told the Tallest about Dib's little Swollen Eyeball Network at all, nor did I really know for myself that it would have come up from underground.

"All of you are members?" the guard wondered.

"Yes," Purple lied, without skipping a beat. "My partner here and I will take a look at what's gone on in here... the kid'll go back to give a brief report to headquarters."

"What's with the robot?"

"Medical robot."

"I'm important!" GIR exlcaimed.

The guard considered GIR for a moment, then nodded to Red and Purple. "Go on in. It's a good thing you're here, too."

"We'll have a word with this one for a moment," Purple said, grabbing my right sleeve, "then we'll start our analysis."

That said, he pulled me to the side, where he, Red and I could speak privately. "Nice going," I complimented, "but please let go of my sleeve."

"You get something for that arm, okay?" Purple instructed me.

"Yeah, yeah, gotcha. But what about the Resisty?" I hissed at Purple. "Weren't you just all gung-ho to get at them?"

"Yes," he said strongly, "and I still am. But if we analyze what kind of attacks have been dealt on everyone admitted here, Red and I can come up with a good counterattack. Just give us a little while to gather information here, and then we'll catch up."

"I can i.d. alien attacks pretty well," Red boasted, "and I—Purple and I are the only ones who know exactly what the Resisty is made up of now in terms of species."

"You go ahead and keep going," Purple added, looking up at me. "Maybe you'll find that person you were looking for. Just don't get yourself killed before we finish up here at the hospital."

"I won't, but—how'd you know what it was called?" I wondered.

Purple grinned and gestured over at the enormous glowing red sign I should have noticed before. "Anyone can figure it out," he said. I felt pretty stupid.

I nodded. "All right. I guess this is the best plan we've got right now. Thanks for volunteering to go in. And, honestly, if you do i.d. the aliens responsible, I'm sure that'll give us an in with the Swollen Eyeball." Never thought I'd ever say _that,_ but... desperate times. "I'll leave GIR with you, then," I said. "He can find me once you're finished. Right, GIR? You can find me, right?"

"Aww, yeah," the little robot grinned, following the comment with a little dance that mainly involved shaking his rear.

Grinning, I added for him, "I promise, I'll even get you tacos if you do a good job."

GIR went briefly into duty mode and saluted. He'd do anything for Mexican food. And we were finally in a position to _find_ some again.

Before we parted, I gave the Tallest a little background on what I knew the Swollen Eyeball was, and to be on the lookout for someone with oddly-styled black hair and a black trench coat, though I didn't tell them Dib's name (mainly so that Red wouldn't smack me for knowing _any_ human's name, despite the fact that I figured things like that would go hand in hand with, oh, information gathering), since he was the one among the humans who would probably be able to peg Red and Purple for Irkens no matter what. I told them to be cautious, learn some human names and figure out some fake ones, just in case someone other than Dib knew anything. Dib would at least corner us for questioning first. I wasn't ruling out the idea that someone else from that Network might shoot us on sight, just based on my name alone.

We walked into the hospital together, only so that I could pick up a bandage for my arm (which was given to me free in all the commotion), and then left once I saw that Red and Purple really were handling themselves fairly well, though they did each look, in their own way, cautious of what they were doing. On my way out, I maneuvered through the crowd, tightening my new, clean bandage as I walked, feeling nervous for the Tallest, but also a little relieved to get some time to myself. Besides, GIR wasn't good for much, but he always found his way back to me. Hopefully he could do that before the Tallest ran out their 'food' supply with him. I realized, once I was out on the suburb streets, that I'd completely forgotten to mention to them that eating anything the humans offered them would probably be all right to eat. And then of course I began feeling famished myself.

But this wasn't the time for that.

Before I could make a beeline for Gaz's house, I did feel the pull to investigate the crash site. Just in case. In case she was there. In case I could help.

The ship, an enormous, unsightly grey thing that once had proudly stood up to its Vortian design, was now crumbling into scrap metal and ashes over a span of four city blocks. The tawdry building that had been the high school had indeed been demolished, and the entire surrounding area smelled of overheated metal and singed hair. I knew that the smell of burning flesh was mixed in there as well, but I made myself ignore that scent after the first whiff of it set of a string of flashes in the back of my mind—bodies of unidentifyable species burning, mutilated, half-alive. Whatever the fuck those sixty years I'd blanked out on had contained, a hell of a lot of it seemed to be centered around more than one gruesome battle.

Fire trucks were parked a good distance away, and I heard screams from within the crashed ship that could only mean some of the unfortunate aliens inside that had survived were already suffering from the constant barrage of water that was being shot onto the site. Hovering TV screens, inventions attributed to none other than Professor Membrane, were stationed at every street corner, issuing, in a male monotone, the same message over and over:

_"This is an emergency broadcast from Membrane Labs. Professor Membrane and the city council have this situation under control. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is an emergency broadcast. All are advised to stay indoors. I repeat—"_

The smoke from the wreckage still billowed sky-high, but the flames had cooled to cinders by the time I approached. The four blocks, plus a few surrounding, were barracaded off with yellow _'caution!'_ tape and manned by officers of varying branches of the city police force. I approached one man in a sargeant's uniform, took in a deep breath, and prepared for one of the boldest lies I'd concocted in recent memory:

"What's the situation back there?" I asked, making sure not to falter or flinch.

The man glared at me, taking in the bandage on my arm before meeting my gaze, then said, "Kid, there's a curfew. If you need to i.d. a body, you do that at the hospital."

Deep breath, deep breath... "I'm with the Swollen Eyeball," I lied convincingly. "I know I'm young, but I'm a first-encounter expert. I have backup at the hospital, but I have to get in here for a first-hand account."

"Oh," said the sargeant, not even bothering to ask for identification to prove myself. "All right, get on in there, but I'm sure you know not to hang around a site like this for too long."

"I know."

"Here," an officer on guard nearby said to me, handing over a white surgical mask. "Just so you don't breathe in the ash."

I nodded and took the thing, grateful for the offer, then thanked the men as I strapped the mask on and ducked under the tape. The heat rose around me with every step, and I began wishing I'd thought to ask for a set of gloves as well. That probably would have made me look suspicious, as an agent who came unprepared, so I just took care not to instinctually bend to overturn anything. Cries and shouts came out from all around me as I ambled further and further into the scattered piles of metal debris, stepping over singed plastic desk chairs and the remains of a Vortian navigation system alike.

I walked the length of the thing, as best I could through all the stacked, smoldering rubble. Despite the cries, I could see no signs of life anywhere. Black ash clouded my eyes, and I was grateful for the white ventillation mask the officer had given me, else I was sure I'd've choked halfway to the ship. Red and Purple, now that they were analyzing exactly what kind of thing had made those marks on some of the patients at the hospital, probably had a better chance of tracking down any crash survivors than I did at this ostensibly close range.

It wasn't until I reached a building past the remains of the school, an old warehouse, that I came face to face with a human victim. A scream from a female voice got me rushing inside a thick, two-storey grey building with a broken front door, and I wound my way through a claw scratch-lined hallway into a large, open area that had been rooted around in as something of a base of operations. A pipe that had burst was dripping water from the ceiling, and the entire place smelled of ash and mold.

Backed against a vacant grey wall was a woman, probably in her late twenties, with a small, thin frame and shoulder-length curly brown hair that looked pretty badly singed on the ends. She wore a grey business suit with a dark purple camisole underneath that made her white lanyard i.d. tag look stark on the fabric; her ensemble suggested to me immediately that she was with the news, and had been dragged in while reporting. Her blazer had been ripped to her elbows, and both forearms were marked with fresh, bloody three-taloned scratches. She wasn't screaming anymore, she only stared straight forward until she heard my footsteps.

Startled, she drew in a gasp and looked up at me, her grey eyes wide and with dilated pupils, but she looked relieved that I was human. Well, as far as she could tell, and as far as I liked to consider myself being. "Hey," I greeted softly, to show that I wasn't a threat. "Are you all right? What happened in here?"

"I—" she said, her voice cracking as she spoke, "I was... I got dragged in here. I demanded the story, and—"

"Are you a reporter?" I asked, keeping my tone calm.

The woman nodded. "You're just a kid," she noticed.

"Yeah," I sighed, kneeling to investigate her arms, "but I can help you. Look, I'll get you out of here, I have some contacts at the city hospital who're investigating this kind of attack and could use an eyewitness like you, okay?" I was glad, at least, that this person was a professional, and despite the attack still seemed to be carrying herself as such. "Now, what did this to you?"

"Something..." The woman shook her head. "Some... huge... _thing! _Ugh, it had three heads, and... I-I mean, there's no hiding it, anymore. There's nothing the city officials can say that can make people think this _wasn't_ a crashed spacecraft." Then, her eyes lit up. "You're with them," she deduced. "You're with the Swollen Eyeball."

"I am," I lied, "but I just got transferred in, from, um... Canada." Yeah. Canada. "So I don't exactly know what kind of involvement this town has seen from us lately."

"A group of agents just started coming in," the reporter said. "Just after the crash. But they've been handling it so well, they're experts. I mean, you're experts. I'm sorry, but... can we leave? That thing'll be back any—_OH, GOD!"_

I looked up, following the reporter's stare in the spot just behind me, and cringed. An enormous, unidentifyable, three-headed alien stood before us. He was dressed in a purple uniform, complete with clawed gloves. All six of his green eyes looked vacant, as though he'd simply been ordered to torture the woman I was trying to set free, rather than come up with the idea himself. I vaguely recognized him from a brief flash in the back of my mind of a Vortian science lab—he was one of Lard Nar's subordinates of another species. An ally of the Vortians. Definitely one of the dumber species known to Irkens, and quick to listen to given orders, especially in ancient languages.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked him fiercely, my eyes narrowing. "Why attack after—"

"Leader," he answered, reaching forward to continue with the torture.

I growled and stood slightly, stopping his hand with my own. "Stop this!" I commanded. Surprisingly, it wasn't English—the universal language—that came out when I spoke... it was ancient Irken. Ancient Irken was a language many newer Irkens could barely grasp, but it was one that still caused various races to cringe when they heard it. The Irkens that founded the modern Empire, so I'd heard on Devastis, had used the language until the universal language came into existence, what with all of the planets the original few Tallest were able to conquer. Still today a few ancient Irken words are used here and there (mostly for expletives, I might add), but why I of all people was suddenly using it was beyond me. I didn't let it bother me, though, for the moment, since my current goal was freeing an innocent human from this alien threat. That in itself should have surprised me, but I didn't question the existence of my conscience anymore.

The alien, surprised at the words I'd spoken, backed off, disappearing to the back of the warehouse.

"Thank you," the woman said as I helped her stand. "What language was that?"

"I, eh... it's a code we developed at, um... headquarters," I tried, hoping my stalled lie was convincing enough. My brain itched with the want to know why I had so easily thought to use ancient Irken, and why my human tongue could still pronounce its difficult phonetics. It must have had something to do with the constant flashes, I thought, so the best I could do was continue to ignore them and hope I could deal with things in a more human way from now on. I wanted to _be human,_ dammit, not fall back on Irken tricks all the time.

"Well, whatever it was," said the grateful woman, "it worked. Thank you."

"No problem. Now," I said, removing my ventillation mask and offering it up to her instead, "let's get out of here. Wear that and don't take it off till you get to the hospital. Can you walk all right?"

She nodded. "I'll be fine. I hope it's all right if I still write up my report..."

"I don't see why you shouldn't," I told her as I escorted her out of the warehouse.

"Then, can I have your name?"

I felt my stomach lurch. Giving out my name would be a horrible idea. "I'd rather not go on record," I said. "You don't even have to mention me at all."

"Well," said the woman, fishing (but wincing as she did) a business card out of her lanyard, "please get in touch with me if any more unfolds on just what that thing was, and if you'd permit me to keep readers of my paper informed."

"Absolutely," I said, hoping that it was actually a promise.

Once outside, I helped the reporter cross through piles of debris until we'd made it to the closest _'caution!' _ yellow border, where I handed her over to the capable hands of a police officer. He offered her a ride back to the hospital, which put me at ease. I heaved a sigh, then turned to investigate again, just for one more quick glance through. But I did so with an elevated sense of pride, and commonality.

Nothing could blur the fact that I had just saved a human life. And felt pretty great about it. The woman was being escorted to the hospital by police car, and I'd been the one to get her out of the wreckage. To save her from meeting a worse fate at the hands of the Resisty henchman.

That solidified to me, now, that this really was war. Now that humans had been exposed to the treat of the Resisty, and now that the Swollen Eyeball seemed to be taking matters into their hands more publically, there was hope that the planet would be better prepared for Tak's inevitable onslaught. She was most likely sitting back biding her time and building her army with the help of that wretched Cabochon, but she was still, however unrightly, the Tallest, and the more research went into _this_ alien threat, the more likely reporters like that woman I'd saved would learn at least the name of the Irken race, and the name of its vengeful new leader.

And it was pretty obvious, as if I hadn't made the decision before, whose side I was on. I'd saved one person, and dammit, I'd save more if I got the chance. Earth was such a wonderful place. I wasn't going to see it fall into the hands of the Empire. Sure, a lot of humans were a bit ignorant and wasteful, but all species can be like that. I mean, just look at the Irkens. If what the Mandylion had said was true, if Irkens and humans were linked, all the more reason to keep one from oppressing the other. I'd been afraid, earlier, of Red doing something stupid to the planet like mining it for resources and then turning it into another shipping and packing plant or something, but now it was Tak's thirst for total domination that worried me. And that I'd fight against with every breath.

I knew she'd start with this town, too. This town, these suburbs... that house I still had to check for a sign of the girl I was burning to see again. I knew that Tak would start with her. Because that was the easiest line to me.

As I was making my way back through the debris, a large steel pillar that once had held up part of the school came crashing down in front of me, and falling with it were two small and very alive creatures that I identified straight away as Vortians. So Lard Nar, the Vortian Resisty leader, had more backup from his home planet, eh? I wondered how Tak was dealing with that, or if she even would concern herself with any of the Empire's other matters.

The two purple-skinned, black-clad aliens, neither of whom exceeded four feet in height, lunged at me. One was holding up fairly well, but the other looked like he'd seen better days. I crouched into a ready position to fight them, but when I drew in a deep breath to get my counterattack started, I got a mouthful of ash and began to cough. Yes, it had been nice to give that reporter my ventillation mask, but incredibly stupid to not rush the hell away from the site in order to at least grab another one.

Before the able-bodied Vortian could strike, he fell to the ground—a black-tipped industrial arrow sailed straight through his skull and he crumpled, lifeless. The other let out a high-pitched scream and ducked for cover, and I looked up to find the source of the arrow walking toward me.

A man, probably in his early forties, with short, greying brown hair and thin wire glasses, walked toward me while reloading a weapon I recognized from a picture in a textbook I'd seen once as a crossbow. On his right walked a girl, probably a little older than I supposedly looked, of African-American descent, with short black hair and eyes too oddly blue to be human. Just as Red and Purple had something telling about their eyes, so did this girl. I knew I didn't, based on something Gaz had told me, so I had to wonder what set me apart.

The man and girl both wore white ventillation masks similar to the one I'd given up, and the girl, after she'd taken an astute look around, handed me another one while the man stood guard.

"Thanks," I coughed out. "Who are you?"

My question went, presently, unanswered.

_ "Get down!"_ the man shouted at me. Before I could react, he rushed forward, planted himself in front of me, and sent a volley of arrows from his crossbow at the already-marred creature advancing on us. One hit it in the throat, and the alien was down, lifeless.

As the man reloaded his crossbow, the girl rushed forward and scoured the body for useful things. She stood up holding a Vortian laser pistol, and shouted at both of us, "Firing behind you!"

The man grabbed me by the back of the neck and forced me down, while the girl shot twice with perfect accuracy and hit another—this one also Vortian—behind us. It landed on my back, so as I stood I plucked the body off, noticing to my side another advancing, so I did the first thing I could think of and hurled the lifeless Vortian at its comrade, who fell several feet away and was crushed by a falling block of cement. I winced, but still told myself, _They're enemies. They're obviously not on the humans' side, so don't show too much mercy._

"Hmm," the man said, while the girl rushed off to look for more weapons. "You seem experienced." I picked up on an English, most likely London, accent this time when he spoke, now that his words weren't clipped and rushed.

"Kinda, yeah," I admitted. "Going out on a limb here, but... are you with the Swollen Eyeball Network?"

The man laughed behind his ventillation mask and said, "It's Corporation, now, but yes."

The girl rushed back over and handed me a gun. "Here," she said, pressing it toward me. "Learn how to use that. Professor, we're clear, here, let's call back."

Before I knew it, I was being whisked away with the two of them, and wondered how long I could keep my name hidden. No doubt, given that Dib was part of the Corporation, he'd have alerted everyone to the name Invader Zim, and however much I wanted to be removed of that title, I couldn't be until that pointy-haired bastard was convinced. Still, I had to keep close to these two as long as possible, since I'd learn more from listening to them than I could investigating on my own.

The two led me down some of the familiar suburban grid streets until we'd made it a safe distance away from the crash site, and the girl yanked me behind a pale yellow building that had no lights on inside, and had a large overhanging roof that could provide us a great shadow in which to hide from the light of the hovering TV monitors and other lights from the street. Power had gone down in some parts, either that or lights just weren't being kept on... I knew that Professor Membrane had access to an auxiliary power source for the city, which he had most likely activated at least somewhat, since it seemed he was taking an active role in this particular citywide crisis.

I kept a doubtful hold on the Vortian pistol I'd been given, and the girl kept a firm grip on hers as she removed her mask. The man had already removed his and was speaking quite rapidly to someone over his small silver cell phone. "So how'd you hear about the Corporation?" the girl asked me, catching me off-guard.

"I, eh... I've known about it for a while," I said. Figuring I was in safe enough company, I asked, "Do you happen to know anyone named Dib? He's part of it, I think."

The girl let out a full laugh. "You _think?_ Sure, I know him. Question is, how do you?"

"Well—"

Just then, the man with the crossbow turned his head and called over his shoulder, "Tenn my apologies, but what was the name of that race you mentioned?"

"Vortians," the girl called back. "Planet's called Vort."

"Ah, thank you."

Tenn..? The man had just called the girl 'Tenn,' hadn't he? That would have been too strange a coincidence, but I told myself not to rule anything out. I studied the girl... she did look human enough, and looked quite tall at that, but I knew that Tak had perfected solidified holograms, meaning other Irkens could, as well. My head spun, and I glared at the girl who looked so convincingly human. Well... minus her sharp blue eyes.

She caught me gaping and demanded, "What?"

"Tenn?" I wondered.

"Yeah..?" she said, raising an eyebrow in slight confusion.

"Your name is Tenn?"

"That's with an extra 'n,' not like the number," she said.

"Your name is _Tenn?"_ I repeated, sounding pretty stupid by now. "As in... and sorry if I'm wrong, but... _Invader_ Tenn?"

Her expression went from one of confusion to one meant to challenge me. Her gaze was stone as she asked, "Who wants to know?"

Before answering her, I rushed forward with more questions: "How did you _get_ here? Why _are_ you here?"

"I _said,_ who wants to know?" she snapped at me.

I couldn't suppress a laugh. Sure, I'd never known the other Invaders very well, but I remembered Tenn. I'd wondered why she hadn't been around on the _Massive_ with Skutch and the others. Somehow finding her way to Earth was a good enough excuse for that. She seemed comfortable with Earth and appearing human, as well... she even knew Dib and was a part of the Swollen Eyeball, so whether or not anyone else knew about what she was—no, that was ridiculous. If she knew Dib, others must have known.

Oh, this was getting very, very interesting.

"You don't recognize anything about me, do you?" I asked her.

"No," said Tenn firmly.

"Not even my voice?"

_"No,"_ she repeated.

"What if I told you my name is Zim?"

Answer: she punched me on the shoulder. Hard. The left shoulder, which was good, but it still _hurt._ "OW!" I yelped. "What the hell was that f—"

"ZIM?" she cried out. That got the man's attention, especially now that he'd completed his call. "Seriously, you're Zim?"

"Ow, not if you're gonna keep hitting me like that, I'm not," I growled at her.

"Oh, shut up! People are looking for you," Tenn hissed. "And by people, I mean _Dib._ He's got the whole Corporation on alert for your name, and you just waltz down here in hologram—"

"It's not a hologram."

"WHAT?"

"I said, it's not a—"

"I heard you!" Tenn burst at me, her eyes wide and unfathomable. "Professor!" she called over to her companion again. "Call 'em back, tell Gaz we've got—"

"You know _Gaz?"_ I yelped, my heart skipping a few beats before it began pounding steadily and rapidly against my chest. Oh, this was good news. This was very, very good news. I hoped.

"Yeah, and—"

"There's no need to get excited," the calmest voice among us cut in.

With intent to silence the shouting, the man came up behind Tenn and put a hand on her shoulder. He stood only about an inch taller than she did, but had a very commanding presence. Despite his skills in battle, and the strong sensibilities he portrayed, something about him made me feel like he could be trusted with knowing who I was, and what I was trying not to be anymore.

"So," he said, smiling somewhat, "you're the famous Invader Zim?"

I winced. "Please don't use that title to describe me," I asked. "But, yes, my name is Zim. I'm sure I have a lot of explaining ahead of me."

"For now, there's no need. I want only to know whether or not you're on our side."

"Oh, I'm on your side, sir," I said quickly. "Look, there's one thing I want to tell you right off and that's that I'm opposing the Irkens, and any other threat the humans might have. I guess that actually requires a lot _more_ to be said, but..."

"You can fill us in once we return to Headquarters," the man grinned. He extended his right hand to me, and I shook it almost without thinking. First I'd saved a life and now I'd made allies. And one of them was another Irken-for-human-causes. What the hell had I been missing? "For now, it's just good to meet you, and good to have you on our side. My name is Victor Haynsworth. Miss Tenn and I still have a slight mission to do, but we'd appreciate your company. After we're through, we'll take you back with us to the Corporation."

"Professor—" Tenn warned.

"He's on our side, isn't he?" Haynsworth smiled. "You're Irken, and we've come to trust you."

Tenn sighed, looking me up and down, then agreed. As we set off, ironically in the direction of Professor Membrane's home, Tenn whispered to me, "I'm with the Professor on trusting you, but unlike him, I wanna hear the story."

"A-and I'll tell it," I assured her.

"You're really not here with Tak?" she asked me.

"That partnership was broken pretty much as soon as it started," I said strongly. "As far as I'm concerned, Tenn, I'm human."

Tenn shrugged me off, but as we continued walking, I heard her mutter, "I knew you were better than that."

And, just like that, I came one step closer to working toward my goal. One step closer to being human. I had faith that the Tallest would catch up to me soon, and that they could handle things well in regards to the surviving aliens from the Resisty crash. Hope kept me moving. I'd been more or less welcomed into the Corporation already by one of its representatives. I was making headway. I was so close. Things were looking up. Once I got to the Corporation's headquarters, I knew that I'd finally have justification for the life I'd decided to carve out for myself.

Because now, for once in my life, I could say that I kept a promise.

– – –

– – –

**Author's Note:**

As promised, my Sunday update is here! ^^

And thus we get a glimpse of the new Resisty, come back into town, and begin a little string of reunions… :3 I feel bad for Dib, though, he's got it rough. D: We're getting into some of my favorite parts, now, too, now that everyone's coming together… And we've learned a bit about what that Mirror can do...

I'm so glad you're all enjoying this! The comments from Friday's update still have me smiling~ ^^;;; Thank you sososo much, everyone~ :3

Aaaaand tomorrow is August 8th! XD I thought about doing the update tomorrow, but today made more sense in my head. But yes, August 8th, which is—in this story anyway—Dib's birthday! Hurrah~ Fun fact: I gave Gaz her voice actor, Melissa Fahn's birthday (April 28th) but did not give Dib Andy Berman's birthday (February 24th) because of another late February birthday for another character. So his changed to August (also because I wanted him to be a Leo)… and I liked that because it lessened the age gap between the siblings, saying something of Miyuki's semi-inhuman reproductive cycle… ^^;;; (Another fun fact: _IZMS_, as of this update, is technically stuck back in August of 2005! So in real time, tomorrow, Dib will actually be 20… XD)

The next update is coming this **Friday, August 12****th****! **See you then with a pretty weighty few chapters~ :3

~Jizena~

– – –


	8. Training 3: Parting Gift

– – –

**Author's Note:**

_Invader Zim_ is -c- Jhonen Vasquez! Only the events of this story, characters specific to the story, and character tweaking (heh) are mine. :3

~Jizena~

– – –

_Dib's Records_

Training became even more rigorous in the days to come. I did get faster. I did get used to the surge step, though I still disliked using it (and proper teleportation even more). The one thing Miyuki drilled into me more than anything, though, was how to keep up those static energy blasts. It became less, for me, about trying to tap into the electricity in the air, and more about how much I could use at any given time. The kid in me did wonder how well I'd do during a lightning storm, but then the fear took over when I hoped I wouldn't start having an Irken aversion to water once I started using these abilities practically.

And I still grew. That bothered me more than anything, mainly because I felt a slight discomfort with what I was wearing. My boots especially. It eventually got to the point that I had to just yank the things off and continue training barefoot. At the end of several days of constant training, I knew I'd reached 5'11." As if I hadn't been of an awkward age already.

I was getting the hang of things, though. Because I worked so hard without rest for so long, I'd managed to push my limits a few times in little spars against Miyuki. I could shift between attacking with an Irken static blast to changing my breath in order to call up an energy shield using Meekrob techniques. Eventually, mostly due to fatigue, I began to ignore the sting in my back that would arise every time I began to gather static energy.

When I asked Miyuki what my best bet was for not falling under Brain control, she told me to 'tune out extra static.' Which meant, as my supposed future reflection had told me, to keep everything in a balance. Everything, he had said, falls into a balance. For someone as spiritually ambivalent as I usually was, a hell of a lot of cosmic zen was being introduced to and even expected of me. I had to meditate to recharge my Meekrob abilities. I had to tell good from bad energy when using Irken techniques.

One would think, after that, I'd have become a hell of a lot calmer.

In fact, I stayed pretty high-strung, but at least I'd accepted that I was scared. As long as I could fight through the fear, I figured, I could handle things okay. Miyuki did not make me come face to face with her Mirror again, which I was thankful for, but the ceaceless training kept my mind occupied enough. So occupied, in fact, that I forgot she'd told me I was going to be gone only a week. And that the week would come to an end.

It struck me as a surprise, really; at first, I thought Miyuki was pulling my leg, until I remembred that she had absolutely no sense of humor to speak of. It was after a session of nonstop static gathering and firing, during which she had drilled me on surge stepping immediately into an attack—which was not a strong point for me, but I'd only been at it three straight days, where she had a lifetime behind her as my training opponent—when, just as I was starting to complain about fatigue, Miyuki said, "It's all right. This is a good place to stop."

Heaving out a breath of relief, I bent over myself, keeping my hands on my knees. I'd never physically pushed myself like this, for any reason. When I was a kid, I could run fairly fast (especially when being chased, which was actually quite frequent, though not as frequent as chasing something myself), but I'd always been able to stop when I needed or wanted to. Now that Miyuki had me going, I felt like I couldn't stop. It helped with being tapped into the energies around me, though, and it was pretty nice, I had to admit, feeling just that much stronger.

"We're done for the day?" I guessed, since I could never tell if she meant just done with _that particular exercise._

Miyuki smiled and stepped back, like an artist admiring her work, and corrected, "No, no. It's time you returned."

I stood up straight and challenged her with a stare. Just as I was getting the hang of it, she was leaving me to my own devices? "Seriously?" I wondered, only to be answered with a slender nod. "Why?"

"Something has just come up," Miyuki told me, "that will give you more practical experience than any more time here with me ever could."

That struck a bad chord. My stomach churned, and I felt a sting in both my chest and back at once. "What's going on?" I demanded. "I assume you're talking about Earth—Miyuki," I snarled, managing to get right in and grab her by the collar, fully aware that I'd now surpassed her in height by a rather significant inch, "I'm warning you, if Tak's done something to my Corporation that I haven't been there to—"

Gently, Miyuki set both of her thin, long-fingered hands on mine and eased my grip with a simple motion, smiling all the while. "It's nothing you cannot handle," she said, as if that was sufficient. She went on to blather about how well I had done, and how I should take my own time to learn what I could about the Irken political system and the history of the Control Brains, but my mind was only on what the 'something' she had first referenced could have been. I wanted to know if my sister was okay. If the Corporation was okay. How everything was being handled. What everyone had thought of my disappearance. I'd hardly even had time to worry about that during the time I'd been gone. Which was terrible.

And then, of course, my mind immediately went to what would be in store for me once I got back. If I would be treated with apprehension, with revulsion even, for leaving without warning, for being gone so long.

And what the hell was I going to say to Gaz..?

Despite everything, I thanked Miyuki. Primarily for the fact that training was, at least for now, over, but also for some of the techniques. Assuming I wasn't too scared to try them out once I was faced with a real fight. I was told to continue training with what I had already learned, and that 'from time to time,' she'd check in on me; she then told me that, of course, come April, Gaz would be caught up to speed on her birthright abilities, too. I was determined, however, to not leave my sister in the dark about the things I'd learned. She'd have an advantage, once her fourteenth birthday came around.

"Before I let you go, though, dear," Miyuki said at last, "I've a parting gift for you."

I snorted out a laugh. "New clothes?" I asked sarcastically.

Of course, Miyuki smiled. "That can be arranged." This woman had no sense of humor and wouldn't know sarcasm if it tripped her on the street. Suddenly she and Dad seemed like a great, overly literal pair. Not only did my parents suck, I thought, when they weren't being creepy as hell they were _boring. _"But what I meant to give you is a little different. I've not told you this, but prior to my becoming Tallest," said Miyuki, as if the subject was no big deal and we'd discussed this all the time all my life (don't I sort of wish), "I designed weaponry. I invented a great many things, as a matter of fact."

"Yeah, like a time machine or something?" I said bluntly.

"Oh! Yes, like that." And the subject was dropped. Whatever, Miyuki. "But prior to having the materials available to me to construct complex machinery, I dabbled in forging things. Weapons of all kinds." The Mirror appeared at her side again, and I took care not to look into it. I was not ready to see anything else about myself in that thing. The Irken reflection I'd seen still bothered me. The glass, however, warped so that it appeared to reflect only the space around us... but then I realized that it had, in essence, become a doorway of some sort. A portal into another void. Through the looking glass and into a mad world, indeed. "Go on, then," Miyuki prompted me. "Reach in."

I glared at her. "That's, um... that sounds kinda cruel, Miyuki," I said, clearing my throat immediately afterward. I'd been noticing that my voice was breaking pretty roughly over the course of training, as well. It was beyond awkward. I was taller, I knew from the last glance in the Mirror that I looked at least a little older, and now this. Nothing like being forced to look and sound older than one is to really break into adolescence. I shouldn't have been surprised, though... I'd been holding down a job as leader of an underground Corporation for almost a year. Childhood was a laugh.

"There's nothing cruel about it!" she chimed. "I want to give you one of my old creations. I've kept them here... though, some have found their way around to their rightful owners already."

Cautiously, I stepped toward the transformed Mirror, then stopped myself short. Glancing back at Miyuki, I asked, "You made those daggers Gaz owns, didn't you?" Miyuki's only reply was a nod. "We don't have an aunt, do we?"

"No," said Miyuki, shaking her head. "I fabricated that lie, naming her for the material I forged with. An Irken rarity known as Tavis."

"Rarity?" I wondered. "What's it do?"

Miyuki nodded back toward the Mirror. "Reach in and see for yourself."

Swallowing back my nerves, I raised my right hand and held it toward the portal. "This thing isn't gonna bite my hand off, is it?" I asked.

"It shouldn't."

I rolled my eyes. "You sure know how to make people feel safe around you, Miyuki," I mutterd, knowing she wouldn't catch the sarcasm.

With a deep breath, knowing that the ultimate reward in all of this would be getting the hell out of that dimension and returning home, I did as Miyuki asked and reached my right hand in. The space reflected in the Mirror felt slightly colder than the neutral air I'd gotten used to, and I took care not to try to look inside, for fear of what I could possibly see. Trusting only my sense of touch, I moved my hand slowly through the cold nothingness until it did indeed come upon something solid. Moving my hand a bit to the right, I discovered there was an entire row of possibilities.

Only one object, however, made the air seem less frigid when my fingers graced it. I felt no real connection to the thing, but the slight warmth seemed to be a telling sign. Tightening my hand around it, I pulled the object out, finding it to be a little heavy, but nothing unmanageable. Once out of the Mirror, I set my left hand next to my right, and knew even before I opened my eyes that I'd drawn out some kind of sword.

Now, that was interesting. I'd always thought that, on Earth, they were effective but slightly antiquated weapons; while I despised guns (especially the thought of using one myself), I knew that most people in the Corporation used them... and that they seemed a likely Irken weapon as well. Then again, we were 'linked' races, after all... maybe our thoughts on what kind of arsenal was useful and effective crossed some similar lines, and some Irkens preferred more direct contact in battle.

The blade itself had the same lustre as the Mirror's frame; it was thin, double-edged, and slightly longer than my arm. On the base of the blade were carvings in intricate Irken, which I, still with mostly human visibility, could not read, and the hilt bore Irken imprints as well. After a thorough study of the daunting-looking hilt—which itself was black, smooth, and carved in a style similar to the 'futuristic antiquity' of the Mirror frame—I found no marked trace of the Irken Military insignia, which I was thankful for. The writing I could get over and ignore; the insignia would've made me want to melt the thing down to scrap metal.

"A sword?" I wondered, gingerly handling the thing with my left hand on the hilt, my right hand cupped carefully beneath the blade. "But..."

"An Irken _kairedon,_ no less," Miyuki observed, stepping up next to me as the face of her Mirror began to swirl and warp again. She touched her hands lightly on her own handiwork, and continued, "I remember this one. _Kairedon_ were rare among the Elite, but several Tallest preceding me made use of this type."

"You mean it's too long for normal Irkens to handle," I translated. Miyuki smiled a little. "The general army uses guns, though, right?"

"Believe it or not," said Miyuki, rather proudly, "many Irkens, and other races as well, still prefer this kind of thing in battle. You have an advantage to create your own distance attacks. This will be your extension of self in close-range."

"So..." I guessed, "you're just gonna train me in this real quick, and _then_ I go home?"

"Oh, no, you're ready to return."

"What?" I sputtered, almost dropping the intricate weapon. "Miyuki, I thought the whole point in training was, y'know, to _train me in stuff._ I've never held a sword before. I've... honestly, I've never really fought with anything like—"

"I trust you'll do well," Miyuki said, stepping back. "Just trust yourself."

"Y-yeah, but—" I made myself stop. No use arguing with her. Besides, I didn't want to argue myself into another week of training. Especially now that I knew something was going on back on Earth... now that I knew the Corporation really needed me. "All right," I gave in. "Bring me back." Shaking my head, I added, "You've gotten me all nervous, so before I get any more so, I've got to get back and..."

"Take charge," said Miyuki, echoing my own reflection. I studied her while I had the chance, not knowing how long it would be until she showed herself again. Perhaps one day I'd admire her again, the way I had when I was little. For now, I could only look at her and remember. And hope that, someday, my entire family could be united by long-repressed truths, and by trust, if it was too late for love.

Still feeling fatigued in the presence of the Mirror, I felt myself slip into black. That pressure surrounded me again, the one I recognized as teleportation from the day Miyuki had come to collect me. My mind and body were exhausted. For all I could tell, I completely passed out.

– – –

I woke up on the portrait room floor, feeling groggy and drained. _This must be what abduction victims feel like,_ I thought to myself as I stiffly picked myself up. My joints were aching; my entire body cried out for another several hours of rest. But I couldn't. I'd come home. And damn it, I was going to find out what was so damn important that my new abilities were needed already.

Holding up my right hand to attempt a quick read of the electricity in the air, I discovered that Miyuki had made good on her mention of giving me new clothes. Black cloth fell around my wrist, and further examination of myself told me that I'd been given a new trench coat—which I honestly had to applaud her for—and new clothes, from shirt to boots. My nerves and exhaustion coaxed a laugh out of me, since, given how much I'd grown during that ordeal, hopefully this time, these would fit and _continue to do so._

Lying beside me was the sword Miyuki had given me as a 'parting gift.' I eyed it for a second, wondering if I should even pick it up. I'd never used one before, but hopefully someone on complex grounds had (it was more than likely) and could teach me a little, despite this one having a slightly different make than any on Earth. Nonetheless, after I'd managed to get myself standing, I gathered it up, and found that I was wearing a belt which could very easily hold the thing in place at my hip.

After a moment of concentration, and stopping my head from spinning, I was able to get a feel for the energy in the air, finding that I did indeed have to weed through a little more interference before I could ignite the fuse, so to speak. The heat in my palms told me that blasts were still definitely conjurable, and I sparked a few before I left the room, just to be sure I wasn't about to set myself up for bitter failure.

Miyuki had told me that my training had taken place in a dimension that could amplify my abilities. Now I was left to my own devices, and with a weapon I'd never even used. And out I walked, through empty halls with flashing red lights. The warning signal..?

I rushed outside, passing no one along the way. Once standing out in the dying summer heat, I looked up to see the sky ablaze in front of dark evening hues. Brakem and the army had been deployed; my sister was nowhere within my current line of slightly improved vision. There was only one figure nearby I saw whom I was ready to speak to: Charlotte, positioned nearby. She saw me as well, and I was rushed into conversation, only half of which I caught as I was attempting to catch myself up just from the thrill of being back at the complex again.

The complex I now had to protect from possible invasion from an unknown source.

Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Time to put being half-Irken to use.

At fourteen, I shouldn't have been thinking this, but I really needed a drink.

– – –


	9. Reunion 1: Taking Charge

– – –

**Author's Note:**

_Invader Zim_ is -c- Jhonen Vasquez! Only the events of this story, characters specific to the story, and character tweaking (heh) are mine. :3

~Jizena~

– – –

_Gaz's Records_

The complex was secured on just about all sides by pieces of General Brakem's gathered international army. That eased my fears a little, but I was still at a loss for not knowing exactly how to take charge. For the most part, I felt like I was doing okay—I ran between sites along the field, and borrowed a cell phone from Charlotte Baudelaire so that I could call her at a moment's notice. She had a working knowledge of the complex grounds, and where she thought the most security needed to be. I had to set my own issues aside for a while and put a lot of trust into her, and into every agent within our grounds.

A team of scouts had indeed been sent out to investigate the crash, which I was grateful for, since they could hopefully stop the scourge at its source. I had Charlotte call to deply them after Lex received a phone call from her father who, with Tenn, had indeed seemed to gather plenty from their initial investigation of the site.

Lex, Nacea and I were together when my roommate got the phone call, while I had Charlotte basically on satellite duty, walking around to check in on the different teams.

"Thank you," said Lex, her voice steady though the hand that gripped her cell phone shook. "Yes. Be careful." She grimaced as she pocketed her phone, then turned to us and said, "Well, the things that landed are definitely not on our side. A good deal of aliens survived the crash, and they're of several species. Tenn just warned my father against all of them. We can open fire if they approach. And we're to be on the lookout for certain purple-skinned creatures called 'Vortians,' specifically."

"Well, that's good to know," I said. "I kinda know about Vortians, they supply the Irken Empire with a bunch of stuff."

"I had heard that there was a resistance building," Nacea offered. "I do not like conflict, but I am afraid that they may intend harm on the human race, simply due to Irken interest in this planet."

"Then, we've gotta be ready," I said, "that's all there is to it. Come on, Brakem and Charlotte've got stuff under control, let's get in position."

The other two followed me to the forest's edge, where Nacea, wide, inhuman eyes nervous as her hands glowed white with bright orbs of energy she could reluctantly use to attack, and where Lex loaded her crossbow with small black arrows. I kept my ears alert for any advancement through the thick trees, but had to ask Lex, "Did your dad mention anything about, you know, going to my house, and..?"

"He did," she assured me. "He's hoping to have a talk with your father. There is a PSA playing throughout town that's been talking of how Professor Membrane is keeping things under control."

That got me to heave out a sigh of relief. At least Dad was safe. He was too stubborn not to be. One of these days I'd talk to him again. I really wanted to know his real opinions on Mom, and whether or not he had any hatred for me and Dib for having, oh, half of her DNA. Or maybe if he was even afraid. I doubted he'd hate his own kids as much as he might be afraid of our mixed background.

My thoughts were disrupted immediately when a rustling came from far into the trees. Lex turned her head astutely to follow the sound, and she positioned her crossbow on her shoulder so that she had a clear shot at whatever could possibly be coming toward us. I brought out my own daggers, which I felt a little out of practice with, but they were all I had. I wasn't about to be useless.

The rustling drew closer, and before I could calculate which hand I ought to strike with first, a creature burst out from the thicket and continued its advance. In the dark, it was exceptionally terrifying, having the features of a seven-foot stick bug and the speed of a greyhound. It rushed forward on large, uneven but taloned feet, and had its bulbous eyes locked onto me. Lex let out six or seven arrows in succession, but the creature was thin and fast enough to dodge all but one, which only hit its shin and didn't seem to slow it down any.

I brought up my daggers and struck out, but the oversized insect dodged again and crept around me, striking once at my back. I ducked before it could touch me, and it leapt over me again, ready to take me on. A thing like that had to have weak points, but my brain felt too addled to search for one. My opponent raised up one clawed hand to strike me from overhead, but before either of us could make a move, a bolt of blue light came out of seemingly nowhere and struck the alien down, mostly vaporizing it on contact.

Another stick bug alien emerged from the trees, only to meet the same fate as its companion. The bolt of blue sparked in all directions, but dissolved into the air before any of the underbrush could catch fire. I spun around, dizzy, and almost dropped my weapons in surprise. Walking indomitably toward me, a large ball of that blue static energy hovering in wait in his right palm, was my brother.

He was cloaked in a new black trench coat, open over his simple blue shirt and black jeans, with a high collar and of a length that reached just down past his knees, and I noticed that his glasses had changed, as well. The round frames he'd left with had been replaced by thinner-rimmed oval ones, which sat a little further down on the bridge of his nose. His expression was unflinching, and his eyes held focus on the forest in front of us.

I was about to call to him, though I was not sure exactly what I may have said, but was stopped by the sound of rustling again. A smaller alien emerged this time, purple-skinned with thin, sharp legs that bent backward at the knees like a flamingo's. So this was a Vortian, huh? Two large protrusions, either horns or very thick antennae, on its head became my target as it rushed past me and toward Dib. I got in a clean cut and sent one of those horn-antennae flying, but my brother finished the job with that bolt he'd had at the ready.

"DIB!" I finally shouted.

He lifted his head, and flashed me a smile that looked guilty and a little sad. He didn't have time to respond, though, since a wave of three other Vortians burst forth from the trees, just as thunder clapped overhead. In place of lightning from the sky, however, Dib shot another two blasts of static energy to bring down a couple of them. The third was shot down by a black arrow straight through its neck, thanks, of course, to Lex, who, I had noticed, had also brought down a couple other unidentifyable creatures nearby.

Another stick bug alien burst out from my right, and this one was met with a bullet in each eye. I whipped around to find, approaching behind my brother, his blue-haired spokeswoman, a compact, sleek black pistol in her right hand. Only moments after his return, Dib had taken charge again. God, was I ever glad to see him; I just hoped he hadn't changed too much. I mean, where'd he learn how to do those static bolts..?

"Nacea!" he shouted, walking closer toward us, his new black trench coat sailing in the wind behind him as if creating a regal wake. "Whatever the extent of your reach is, set up a perimeter! I'll leave you here to handle that, all right? I'll have Brakem send over a couple reps to back you up for offense. Gaz, Lex, Charlotte, come with me."

Nacea nodded, smiling over at him, and proceeded to create a large wall of white light between her and the forest, extending out a few yards to her right and left. I was actually impressed, and had to give her the benefit of the doubt for _doing something,_ even if I still wasn't too fond of her for being so naïve as a person.

Lex and I exchanged a slight glance as we rushed to follow Dib and Charlotte. As we drew closer, I noticed just how much his week of absence had physically changed my brother. Lex noticed as well, and while I was silent in my bewilderment at so much as seeing Dib again, she voiced her shock.

"Did you _grow?"_ Lex yelped, glaring up at him skeptically.

"Reeeally not a good time to ask me that," Dib warned her.

"Ugh, sorry," she scoffed.

"Long story short, yes, but it's not important right now," said my brother. "What is important is how far you can shoot."

Lex loaded her crossbow as we walked and boasted, "I've got the best eyes and aim in the family. Do you want me close-range, or sniping?"

"Sniping, especially if you can rapid fire."

"Consider it done ten times over, but where from?"

Dib stopped and gestured with his thumb back to the Headquarters building. "Where else?" he answered. "The roof. I'll put you, Nobuyuki and Munira up there, you take East, put her on West, have him take South, got it?" North faced away from town, so a fourth, I guessed right away, wasn't necessary.

Lex nodded and rushed off, back toward the main building.

"All right, guys," Dib then said to me and his spokeswoman, "ready to head out?"

"Hold up, where're we going?" I asked him.

"Out," Dib grinned. And there, I saw his old glimmer, his tell-tale spark, the one that told me I really was dealing with him and not a fake, the one he'd had since we were learning to walk. The investigator, the part of him that would always be a kid fascinated by the unknown. "We're taking the main perimeter, where Nacea can't reach with her shield."

"She can use shields?" I wondered. She hadn't told me that. "How d'you know?"

"Figured it out myself. If I can do it, she must be even better."

"Hold _on,"_ I said, taking hold of his sleeve as he turned to lead on again.

"Huh?"

Before my chance could pass, I threw my arms around Dib and hugged him tightly. He really had grown, even in just a few days. He'd shot up to just shy of six feet, I estimated, the height he supposedly would have reached by sixteen anyway, and, knowing that our mother was a Tallest, I could understand why spending time with her would probably cause that to happen. It bothered me a little, though, since I knew, after this little hug, I'd probably feel disconnected from Dib again. He'd undoubtedly seen and experienced things that could put us worlds apart. I'd been right, that night the room had swallowed him up: I'd felt like I was never going to see him again... and I never would, not the way he was, at any rate. From that day on, he knew how to control the part of our DNA that was Irken, and that fact alone made him almost like a different person.

"Thanks for coming back," I said quietly.

"Wasn't about to abandon you here for a second," Dib assured me.

"Okay," I said, backing off. "That's all you get for now. Remind me to kick your ass later."

"HUH?"

"Even if you didn't mean to leave this time, I'm still pissed that you did," I scowled up at my brother. "We're gonna _talk_ later, 'kay?"

Despite my threat, Dib laughed. "Can't wait," he grinned. "I want to talk anyway."

God, it was good to have him back. There was so much to catch up on, though. So much we needed to sit down and talk about. Whatever was to come, though, we had to stick together through it. Just as we'd promised each other long before Dib even came to be the head of the Swollen Eyeball. We were family first, above everything. The only family we needed. Nothing could take away that fact.

Yes, I wanted to beat him up later, and then I'd probably sleep for about a day and try not to cry. But with his return and the promise that perhaps our bond could get back to normal, change was still coming to the Corporation. Once we got through this first alien ambush, we'd have to start really setting our focus on what the Empire was doing.

But before any future planning could take place, we'd have to hold our own during this attack. And Dib, though he looked a little tired himself, carried himself with a newly acquired sense of experience, and, as he'd always been, was more than ready to keep Earth safe from anything that came our way.

"All right, guys!" Dib shouted to anyone around who could and would listen. "Let's kick some alien ass!"

– – –


	10. Reunion 2: The Two Professors

– – –

**Author's Note:**

_Invader Zim_ is -c- Jhonen Vasquez! Only the events of this story, characters specific to the story, and character tweaking (heh) are mine. :3

~Jizena~

– – –

_Zim's Records_

As I walked with my new allies down street after familiar street, my heart beat faster and faster with anticipation of whatever was to come. Victor Haynsworth seemed to have a programmed knowledge of the location of Membrane's home, as he led me and Tenn through backstreets even I would not have instantly thought to use, despite the fact that he muttered a couple times something about the town having changed too much for his liking.

I found Victor interesting, in the juxtaposition of his calm words and ferocious fighting skills, and also in the odd vibe he was giving off in terms of being familiar with Membrane. I knew enough about Membrane to pick up on the fact that he didn't really seem to have friends... only associates who he berated on live television for not being as intelligent as he was. Assuming we would find Membrane at home, this was sure to be an interesting conversation.

Even more interesting to me was still Tenn's presence. On Earth. At all. She'd hardly been heard from since she first left for Meekrob, and now here she was, siding with the humans. She even knew Gaz and her brother. Needless to say, Tenn and I spoke a little as we walked, though I couldn't say we were the best of conversation partners.

I asked her, of course, how and why she came to be on Earth, and she gave me a quick, rather snarky reply about how she'd met Dib and someone named Nacea on Meekrob, and how, because she had developed a raw hatred for the Tallest, she'd decided to come to Earth. I did not mention to her that they were somewhere _very_ close by. She went on to tell me that Dib had informed her of my involvement with Tak.

Howerver grateful I was to have met up with Tenn and her Corporation companion, I began to worry about the moment I would at last set foot on Swollen Eyeball grounds. My nerves were eased a little after Tenn asked me, "So what happened to your arm?"

"Eh?" I glanced down at my tightly-wrapped new bandage, and saw that my recent exertion had already opened up the wound beneath again, and the fresh cloth was slightly stained with blood.

"I can tell that's _your_ blood," Tenn said gravely, showing more sympathy than an Irken generally could. "Did that just happen, or—"

"It's, eh, kind of a long story. _Which I will tell you,"_ I modified my answer quickly when Tenn gave me an awful glare. "It just... requires a lot. Of... time." I sighed. "I guess it's a _really_ long story."

"Figured. I'll ask you later," said my fellow Empire deviant. "But, just one thing... you said you're not in hologram..."

"I'm not," I confirmed tiredly. "This is really me. Or, I want it to be, anyway."

Before either of us could say anything else, Victor held up a hand, which got us to stop in our tracks; I looked up and instantly felt a sting in my chest, as I found myself once again facing that house. It hadn't changed at all, from the outside. It was, however, dark, and felt empty. One dim light shone from inside, in the area I knew was the living room, suggesting to me that Membrane was out. That Gaz and Dib were indeed elsewhere.

Victor, however, thought differently. He sucked in a deep breath and marched up the walk to the front step, where he pounded three heavy times on the front door. He then called out a name I had never heard before: _"Charles Trystan Mansfield!_ Open this bloody door this instant, or I'll be forced to break in." After a slight pause, he added, still in a shout, "And don't think I won't do it, this time!"

"Do you have any idea what's going on?" I whispered to Tenn.

"Something about how the Professors used to work together or something," she muttered back."

"So who's Charles?"

"I think it's—"

Tenn was cut off by the loud, frantic footsteps of someone indoors, and a second later, the front door flew open. I shirked back a little, simply from the man's alarming presence. Professor Membrane had that effect on people. It was almost strange to see him at his home, rather than being projected on larger-than-life screens; strange to see him in person in front of so few, rather than as a symbol in front of a crowd of thousands. His symbolically spiked hair, styled in what looked like a jagged scythe, was in a state of disarray, while his high-collared, face-hiding lab coat looked as stark and clean and pressed as always. Membrane's large, gloved hands were placed firmly in the doorway, denying anyone entrance, and his black brows suggested that his eyes were narrowed behind his eerie blue goggles.

"You..." the Professor said, possibly in disbelief. It was so hard to tell. His voice was so rich and practiced that one could never tell if he ever actually meant to display a specific emotion. Membrane was almost inhuman that way. Despite being so influential, a bit of him still did seem like a product. Just an image to rally behind.

"Lovely to see you, too, Charles," said Victor, projecting a slight grin before he yanked Professor Membrane out of the doorway and spun him round to give him what ended up being a talking-to I was not entirely sure I wanted to fully understand. Whatever history these two had, something had blown up along the way.

Letting out a growl of annoyance, Membrane stepped off. Both men were currently ignoring us, so Tenn and I stood in pure bafflement... but with our acquired guns at the ready for further Vortian attacks nonetheless. "That name," said Membrane testingly, "is not to be spoken within _miles_ of this house, understand?"

"Don't piss me off, Charles, I've got a crossbow and I'm rather short on time."

Membrane groaned tersely, pinched what was most likely the bridge of his nose underneath his high white collar, and snarled, "What do you _want,_ Victor?"

"Ah!" said the man in question, who was becoming a little more intriguing each minute, just from the way he handled himself. "Good to see you're clean enough to address me by name. Come on, then, we could use your help."

Membrane seemed unimpressed. He stood straight back, exaggerating the, I guessed, four-ish inches he had on the other Professor. This, without a doubt, was a power-struggle between former allies. "We?" Membrane challenged.

"Surely you remember your own Organization?"

"Oh, I _remember,_ all right, that damned place that swallowed up my wife, and then even my son..."

Victor grinned a little. "He's just turned fourteen, by the way." Thanks for the reference point! Then Gaz was thirteen... oh, shit, so she really had found... oh, shit...

Steeling himself, Membrane ordered, "Get out of here."

"Charles, the town's in a panic from a fallen spacecraft—"

"I know! I've got it under control."

"Yes, but we could use your help in... better ways," Victor tried, choosing his words carefully. The fact that he still appeared so calm was impressive. That and the fact that he was talking to Membrane the way any regular humans would converse; he wasn't treating him like the celebrity I'd come to know about.

"Look, I'm busy," Membrane snapped. "I've got to monitor the electricity for the entire town. This city would collapse without me. I can't be a part of your war right now, Victor."

"My—_my_ war?" his once-colleague fought back. "There's much more going on than you're admitting to yourself. Your children are in the thick of this, Charles, and you won't even—"

"I told you to stop using that name," Membrane warned again. "I'm being serious, Victor! That name's been dead almost as long as—"

"Shut up!" Victor stopped him quickly. "There still isn't enough proof that he—"

"He's _dead, Victor!"_ Membrane shouted, grabbing the other Professor by the collar. "He's dead, and my wife is _God-knows-where. This_ is the work I do now, got it?"

"You shut yourself in!" Victor argued, wrestling free from Membrane's grip. "Look at yourself, what is this? What the _hell_ is this? I refuse to believe this 'Professor Membrane' codger is the same man who had such vision to create—"

"Times and people _change,_ Victor!" Professor Membrane barked. "Get out of here. I'm busy."

"Too busy to have a hand in what matters?" Victor shot back. "Too busy, yet again, for your own children? You're worse than I thought. Think about what it is you're—"

Walking with determined strides back to the doorway, Membrane forced out, "Give them my regards. I can't be a part of this right now, Victor. I can't." That said, he disappeared into the house again, and I heard the finality of two locks clicking into place.

"Fine!" Victor hollered in. "Fuck you! Enjoy being alone!"

With that, he turned away from the house, and drew in a deep, long breath. Pinching his eyes shut and correcting his glasses, Victor Haynsworth stood solitary for a moment, the absolute picture of frustration. I didn't even know the man and I felt bad. Those two had almost sounded like brothers fighting, their words seemed to cut each other so deeply. It was almost like watching the Tallest argue. My thoughts briefly turned back to them; I desperately hoped they were doing all right, and that GIR wouldn't come find me again with bad news. No... the Tallest were better than that. I just hoped their own inevitable arrival would be well-timed.

"Right," said Victor, walking with strong strides ahead of us, to the point that Tenn and I had to jog a little and then quicken our walking gaits to keep up. "That was a disgusting waste of time. I apologize for anything the two of you just heard. I'm sure neither that blighter nor I have given either of you the best examples of human decency."

"Eh," Tenn shrugged. "No worse than Irkens."

After we'd walked quite a significant distance from Membrane's home, I ventured to ask, "Professor, um... where is it we're heading now?"

"It's time we got back," he answered. "Lex sounded a little frantic when we spoke."

"You think Gaz and General what's-his-name've got it covered?" Tenn wondered.

"I've no doubt they're doing well," sighed Victor, "but I'd rather we get back now that we've seen enough of the crash site to know that it's somewhat under control." A few steps later, he muttered, "Goddammit, Charles, wake up."

I was becoming more and more curious about the man Gaz's father supposedly was. Under the media image, Professor Membrane must have been, at least at one time, a regular man with a simple, scientific dream. It sounded like he'd hit on one too many rough patches in the past, and I knew full well that Dib complained more than enough about his father's neglect. Membrane had seemed slightly shaken by Victor's sudden interference, though, so I had the feeling I'd be learning plenty about both men and their separate scientific aspirations in the near future.

Behind the dwindling clouds of smoke from the Vortian wreckage, the stars above slowly began to hide behind clouds of a different sort. The air had dropped significantly in temperature, the further we walked from the crash site, and a dampness in the atmosphere that arose as Victor led us toward a thick grove of trees suggested that a storm was upon us.

Rain would drive any attacking aliens away for a while. Water was a weakness for a vast majority of the species the Empire had set out to conquer, since Red had at least had the foresight to go for planets with similar atmospheres to the one Irk used to have before it became a massive computer. I was glad for the promise of rain, to be honest. Because I had a lot of catching up to do.

– – –

– – –

**Author's Note:**

Man, I can't wait to get to later chapters that get into Membrane's history… :3 It's one of my favorite parts of this story. (Actually, I have too many favorite parts… XD) (Which is probably why this beast is so darn long… ^^)

And, man, things are heating up…! Dib's back! (With a weapon he has no idea how to use, which to me is a hilarious concept… ^^;;)

These chapters are a little short, as will some future chapters be, due to the narrators overlapping so much... but weightier ones are still on their way!

And just to let everyone know, I'm posting these three chapters earlier in the day just to kind of split up today's super-super-long update. XD Another update is coming **later tonight, August 12****th****!** So keep your eyes peeled, as I will be updating (hopefully not _too_ late, though it may go up a little later than the 9:30pm EST time I strive for…) a couple more (highly anticipated!) 'Reunion' chapters within the next several hours~!

:3

~Jizena~

– – –


	11. Reunion 3: Arrival

– – –

**Author's Note:**

_Invader Zim_ is -c- Jhonen Vasquez! Only the events of this story, characters specific to the story, and character tweaking (heh) are mine. :3

~Jizena~

– – –

_Dib's Records_

Keeping up with Earth's natural electrical current was difficult, but I was able to manage. And whenever I couldn't quite recharge and fire away at the enemy, Gaz was there with a strike from her daggers, Charlotte with a shot from her gun. Every so often, too, an alien or two would get picked off before I could even think to blast them, and the well-shot arrows told me exactly who had made the kills. Remembering the day I'd sat in on training, and watched as Lex put arrows through every vital point on a target dummy, I became grateful that we had such a sniper on our side, and told myself as well that it would be really wise not to cross her when she had that thing in her hands.

I asked my sister to give me the short version of what had happened, and she filled me in up to the point that I'd gotten back. Damn. An alien ship, and I wasn't on the scout team. _Dammit, Miyuki, you made me miss something like this..?_ I couldn't be too angry, though. I could still do my part.

Based on what Gaz told me, I knew it had to be the Resisty. I'd inadvertently learned about them back during an incident with Zim when I was a kid that involved both of us piloting the Tallests' ship, the _Massive,_ from a remote location—one of my first times using Tak's own fallen ship, in fact. The Vortian-led anti-Empire group had seemed erratic and irresponsible back then, but, then again, so had Zim.

And what had he done recently? Sided with Tak.

I tried not to worry about that stupid Invader throughout the course of the fight. The Resisty seemed to have grown in number since last I'd heard from them, as several representatives of the various races from the original crew kept on advancing toward us. They wouldn't be able to hold up for long, though, since clouds were gathering overhead, warning of rain.

Charlotte did not seem too disturbed by the electric bolts I was now able to use, though Gaz did give me frequent odd looks as we held the Resisty back. The leader never showed himself, but this really was good experience for me. Eventually, too, I hauled out that sword. That 'parting gift.' It took me long enough just to figure out how to keep hold of it, but I had enough backup to be able to work through a few different positions until my hands felt comfortable with the hilt, and with the weight of the whole weapon. I struck out with it a few testing ways, and found, after several tries, a couple swings that worked.

I was doing okay with the thing, but I was still pissed at Miyuki for not teaching me a single damn trick. I wasn't even sure if I was holding the sword right. It was lighter than I expected it to be, though, and had a longer reach than my arm, and in some cases was more destructive than a static bolt. Besides, being back on Earth's atmosphere, I wanted to limit how much I worked with natural electricity, so having the weapon was a great backup.

Strike after strike, whether I hit or missed, I felt better about it. And one by one, my opponents went down. It wasn't long, though, until I heard Victor Haynsworth's voice call out: "Dib! You're back?"

"Professor!" I called back. He strode toward me and Gaz, still holding up his professional air, but looking slightly disheartened. He'd come from the direction that cut through the woods and came out closest to our house, which I'd hardly even thought about recently, meaning he must have been one of the scouts that had gone out to survey the crash. The things I wanted to discuss with that man were ever rising. "Are there many more of these things coming?"

"They've mostly been held off," he told me. "Tenn was with me, but she's on her way back inside. She's told me something about a water issue..?"

"Yeah," I confirmed, "I know Irkens don't do well with water, so I guess these guys don't, either."

"Then we've not much left to worry about, for tonight." As he walked past, the Professor clapped a hand on my shoulder and said, "It's good to have you back. We've missed you this week."

I grinned, even though feeling the hand on my shoulder was odd. There was also the fact that I was pretty sure I was taller than he was now, and he hadn't commented on that fact. He really was just a nice person. After I thanked him, he even went as far as to say, "I'm quite proud of you."

And so I had to thank him again.

"No need," the Professor returned, wholeheartedly. "Now, where would you like me?"

"Uh... Lex is up on the roof sniping," I said. "Maybe go find her and you guys can sort of take charge of what else is needed before the rain starts." The Professor nodded, and was off.

Man. I could chew on his kind words later, but they had given me a boost of confidence, even though I was still hoping that the rain would start soon, mostly so that I could get some rest for once.

Thunder rolled across the sky, and, after Gaz, Charlotte and I had each picked off another Resisty member, a light summer rain began to fall. I heard a few cries from the forest, and the sound of footsteps in the opposite direction. That made me wonder if the aliens were indeed intent on attacking _us specifically,_ or if they were just ready to invade any area that could be a potential haven away from their ruined ship.

Some still rushed toward us, though, and a wave of about twenty came down on us, several of them already smoking from contact with the rain. Still working things out with my sword, I swung out and took out two in one strike. My sister cleverly crouched down and was able to take out two at a time herself, one with each hand. Arrows still rained down from the roof as well, but more carefully planned, since the three of us were now right in the middle of the fray.

And through the confusion, I couldn't even discern, at first, the one human shape among the others. I was striking almost blindly, aware of Gaz's position and Charlotte's, so when my hand was stopped mid-strike, I took that as a threat. A hand roughly the same size as mine tightened around my wrist, and I struggled against it until I really took care to look at who it was that had grabbed hold.

At first, I didn't believe what I saw. I _couldn't._ This was someone I'd sworn years ago to destroy. Someone I hadn't been prepared to see so soon after returning from my session with Miyuki. Someone I hadn't expected to be human again so soon.

"Watch where you're swinging that thing, Dib," Zim warned me, his voice, indeed, back to the human tone he'd developed during the Incident. "You could've cut my head off."

"Yeah," I muttered, "let go so I can finish!"

Zim's eyes narrowed, though not necessarily at me, as rustling could be heard again behind us. Even as the rain beat mercilessly down, another massive stick bug-like creature burst out of the woods. My sister was just standing up from taking down a Vortian, and was not in a position to be on the offensive against the new attacker; awfully simultaneously, Zim and I both shouted out, _"GAZ!"_

And fuck it all, he got to her first. Before the unidentified alien could approach, Zim let go of my wrist and rushed over to block its path to Gaz. The creature got a swipe in, cutting Zim across his back, ripping the fabric of his shirt and nicking his skin enough to draw a little blood. My heart skipped, knowing that that attack had been meant for my little sister, but I wasn't about to thank my old enemy for anything.

Zim winced, drew Gaz in close to him for protection, then picked up his left hand, in which, I noticed for the first time, he held a gun of a design I did not recognize. It made a whirring noise, suggesting that it was charging, and then Zim pulled the trigger, blasting the alien through the skull with a purple laser shot.

As soon as the alien fell lifeless to the ground, Zim tossed the gun and, panting to catch his breath and still wincing from the attack, wrapped his left arm around Gaz as well, causing her to drop her daggers.

"...Zim...?" I heard her say, barely audibly.

"Hello, Gaz," he said in return, bowing his head to be closer to her.

This was not okay. This was _not okay._ First he was siding with Tak, and now he looked human again and thought he could just waltz in and be overly friendly with her again?

I didn't think so.

"Zim!" I shouted at him. He let out a breath and pulled himself away from Gaz so that he could look over at me with guilty brown eyes. But I saw past the decieving, deep brown color, and the almost human spark that kept them ablaze... past all that into the red eyes of an inhuman liar, traitor and enemy. "What's going on?" I demanded. "Why are you here? Why are you... _human?"_

"I—" he began.

"No, wait, you know what? No," I decided, "don't answer that here. Get inside."

"Eh?"

"GET THE FUCK INSIDE, ZIM, WE NEED TO TALK."

"Dib, what the hell?" my sister snapped at me.

"NOBODY TEST ME RIGHT NOW," I bellowed. "I've got more than enough to fucking think about, so Zim, you just—"

"I-inside where?" he wondered, putting himself on the defensive.

Pissed enough as it was, I stormed forward and grabbed him by the front of his shirt and hauled him toward the Headquarters building, then thrust him ahead of me and gave him a shove as I demanded, "Just keep walking until we get in there! I've got a whole _bunch_ of questions for you."

Goddammit, why'd he have to come _now?_ I wondered. I'd just gotten back. I needed time to talk to Gaz about what I'd been doing. I needed time to explain to Charlotte and Professor Haynsoworth, hell, the whole Board what had gone on. I wanted to talk to the Professor about my parents, even more so now. There was way too much I had to deal with. Zim was an unnecessary added annoyance.

An annoyance who was not allowed to know a damn thing about my background.

"Charlotte!" I shouted over at my spokeswoman. "Please take care of things out here. I'm trusting you, Gaz, and Professor Haynsworth to finish up. Don't call off everyone from the army yet, and don't schedule any meetings till I say so!"

"Should I tell everyone you're back?" she wondered.

"Go for it, but I'm gonna be pretty Goddamn busy for a little while." I hadn't meant to snap at her so harshly, but Zim's mere _presence_ had set me off. "Find me tomorrow morning, and get some kind of cleanup crew together to take care of this mess. For now, I've got a lot of interrogating to do."

Charlotte agreed, and I rushed the confused Zim back into the building. "Dib, what the hell is going on?" Zim demanded of me. "Give me some time to—"

"Shut up!" I snapped back.

"GOD! Give me two seconds to explain something!"

Ignoring him, I hung my trench coat up in the hallway, and ducked into the bathroom in the front hall to grab a couple towels, then pushed Zim the rest of the way down through the hall and into my office, slamming the door shut behind me. I tossed the towels onto my desk, set the sword aside, then threw Zim down into one of the large chairs that had come with the office.

"Now sit down," I hollered, "shut up, and answer my questions!"

Zim shrunk back in the chair. "But you told me to shut up."

Frustrated, I smacked him across the face. "SHUT UP!" I shouted.

"OW!" Zim yelped, bringing a hand up to his stunned cheek. "Jeez, Dib, would you let me explain myself before you get all pissed off? I'm on your side. Ow," he repeated, muttering now. "Why's everyone hitting me as soon as they see me again?"

"Think about what you've done before you ask yourself that," I growled. I picked up one of the towels and started going at my face and hair with it. The trench coat had kept the rain off of most of me, which was lucky, and I felt that being dryer gave me that much more of an advantage over my old nemesis. It was a dumb thought, but I'd take the one-ups where I could. "Look, I'm really exhausted right now, because I've been training in a few new techniques lately. Plus, I've got this whole Corporation to run, and I had to be away for a while, so I really don't want to beat around the bush and waste time talking to you."

"W-wait, Corporation to _run?"_ Zim repeated, dropping his hand and looking up at me in disbelief. "You mean..?"

"Yep," I said, driving the point home by walking round and sitting down behind my desk. "I run the Swollen Eyeball now. So you'd better think carefully about whatever it is you say, because I've warned all of my agents against you."

Zim still looked baffled, but attempted to correct his position so that he looked more justified. It was a little irksome, though, that the first thing he said was, "Could I have that other towel?"

"No," I said firmly.

"Oh, come on, you were never _this_ much of an asshole," Zim spat. "Jeez, Dib, I'll tell you whatever, but I'm kind of drenched, and it's hard to think with water in my ears."

I rolled my eyes and picked up the second towel. "Only on the condition that you start _talking,"_ I commanded. Zim nodded, and I tossed it over.

He took his time, it seemed; he patted the towel against his face first, then worked it down his left arm, and more gingerly on his right, where he still wore a blood-stained bandage. He then tried to get some of the moisture out of his shirt before giving up and just running the towel a couple times through his hair. He even went as far as to thank me before asking, "So where do you want me to start?"

"Just like that?" I groaned. "You're just gonna up and tell me anything? I don't buy it."

"Look, what do you _want_ me to say?" Zim wondered. "I'm trying to be agreeable. All right, I'll start with this." He splayed his arms out to his sides, and said, "Obviously, I look human."

"Right. Is it a hologram?"

"No," said Zim strongly. "It's not a hologram, it's not an illusion. I'm physically as human as I can be right now, and I want to start off by telling you that I want to stay this way." I leaned forward on my desk an narrowed my eyes at him. He was taking precious time out of my first evening back home. I had so much else to do. I wanted to hear more than just that. "I really do. I'm on your side, and I came here to ask if you'd let me help you and your Corporation. I'm more against the Irkens now than ever."

"Oh?" I scoffed. "Enlighten me. Because last time we spoke, you were with Tak. What's she up to?"

"Eh," said Zim, looking embarrassed, "if you must know, she's the Tallest."

"WHAT?" I bellowed, smacking my hands down on the surface of my desk. This was _not good at all._ I'd just spent a week in training with my ex-Tallest mother, preparing myself to rise up against my main problems: Tallest Red and Purple, and the Control Brains. _Tallest Tak_ opened up a whole new level of problems for me. Especially since she had a sattelite Brain for a SIR unit. "How the hell did that happen?"

"She's really fucking underhanded," Zim snarled. "She's a horrible person, and believe me when I say I really didn't have all that much to do with her, even when we were supposedly working together. I wanted out, I really did. This is what I've been wanting all along, you have to believe me."

"Well," I snapped, "I don't. I don't believe for a second that you genuinely want to be human after..."

"Dib, please, I need you to trust me on this!" Zim begged. It was so strange, talking to him like this again. During the Incident, I'd almost considered him a friend, forget just ally. And what my Mirror reflection had told me bothered me something awful, now. _Don't discount him as an ally._ Did that mean now? Was that experience even real..? "I keep feeling like I'm not even cut out to be Irken anymore. I don't want to be."

"Zim, the longer you talk, the less inclined I am to deal with you," I muttered.

"Look, Dib, all I can say right now is I'm sorry," Zim tried, pleading with me. "After the whole Time Warp incident, I really got... confused."

_"Confused?"_ I spat back at him. "You're telling me you joined with Tak because you were _confused?_ Oh, that's rich."

"Let me finish, don't be a jerk!" he barked. "Look, I got really confused, and let her take advantage of that. You happy? I'm admitting I can be kind of stupid!"

_"Kind_ of—?"

"Dib, let me _fucking finish!"_ Zim shouted, leaping up out of the chair.

"SIT BACK DOWN!" I hollered, standing to oppose him.

Zim growled in frustration, running his hands through his hair, but did as I asked and sat back down, almost too quickly, since he winced when the fabric of the upholstery hit his back where the stick alien had clawed him. He leaned forward onto his knees, his fingers digging into his still-damp hair, and continued while attempting a more even, normal tone. I had to admit, with his human voice, he sounded a lot more rational than he ever had, but I still wasn't about to up and call him an ally. "I regretted it as soon as it started," he told me. "I spent a lot of my time sneaking around behind Tak's back anyway. We could barely have been called partners.

"She eventually got her hands on a tool, and I'll tell you everything I know about it whenever you want, that altered my DNA again after she broke my PAK." I shuddered, feeling a little discomfort between my shoulderblades when he said the word, but I didn't let on that it disturbed me. He wasn't looking at me anyway. "She was intent on killing me, but I got away. Even before that, though..." Zim let out a sigh, ran his hands back through his hair again, then sat as straight back as he could while still wincing from the attack, and said, "Even before that, I'd made my mind up that I wanted to come back here. Dib, I want to be your ally. I want to fight for Earth. I don't care how long it'll take to convince you, but I'm an exile anyway." He shook his head, drew in a breath and said, "I'm not going to let Tak run the Empire as she pleases. I'm not going to let her destroy this place."

"Why?" I demanded.

"Because I love it," Zim answered, with no difficulty at all. "I want to be human. I want to call this planet home just as much as you do."

God, fuck, Zim, you don't know the half of it.

_"DIB!"_ I heard my sister scream from outside. "Open up!"

Zim perked his head up at the sound of Gaz's shouts, which managed to get me even angrier. Who the hell was he to try to act like nothing had happened between the Incident and now? Who was he to think that we could just pick up and be friends again? Or that he could be so obvious about whatever it was he felt for my sister?

"I'll let you in when I'm finished!" I shouted back.

"Stop pissing me off, Dib! I'll break this fucking door in!"

"We're not done," I growled at my old enemy, who shrank back in his chair like a submissive dog in the wrong. "You're going to tell me _everything_ you know about what Tak is up to, is that _perfectly clear?"_

"It is," Zim nodded. "Believe me, Dib, I—"

"Believe is a _really_ strong word, Zim. You wanna reconsider—"

"THAT FUCKING DOES IT!" Gaz shrieked. A couple heavy pounds came on the door again, and then, wouldn't you know it, she actually kicked it in. She broke through, her left boot snapping the bolt first before she shoved the door open the rest of the way, and then stormed in, a rolled-up bandage in hand. "Dib," she snarled, "I told you I'd beat you up, and I'm still planning on doing it. Don't make me use up my energy by beating you senseless _now,_ though, okay?"

Challenging her, I walked around my desk to lean back against it, and said, "Fine. Gaz, what's that bandage for?"

"What's it look like?" she snipped back, gesturing to Zim.

He kept his eyes on her, looking absolutely lost in awe. Yes, I'd been glad when he'd actually gotten smiles out of Gaz and such, I'd been glad when she'd started opening up a little more thanks to him, but I wasn't wholly convinced of his new 'wanting to be human' deal, so the thought of him trying to pick right up with his human life again made me kind of sick. So the first thing that came to mind was to holler at him, "Get out of here!"

"Eh?"

"Go back to that front room," I instructed. "Gaz'll change that bandage for you in a second, but we are _not done,"_ I felt the need to reiterate. "Just get out there, I've gotta talk to my sister."

"Thank y—"

"GO, ALREADY."

"Okay, okay," said Zim, still playing submissive. Or, he'd better have been playing, I thought.

Everything felt so warped and sudden. This was too much. All too soon. My life had felt like it had been in fast forward since my thirteenth birthday, and now, a year later, nothing was slowing down. I felt as though I'd never catch up, especially since I kept on being forced to push further and further forward. So much was expected of me, on both sides of the war, at that. The only possible good thing I could see of Zim's coming and offering his services was that he could eventually enlighten me toward how the Empire functioned. Between him and Tenn, the entire Corporation could be educated on how that multitude ticked.

He'd mentioned some kind of tool Tak had had, as well. Knowing about that ahead of time would probably be to our advantage. I could only imagine what that thing was. Whatever Tak had done to wrestle her way to the top of the chain in the Empire, Zim must've suffered for it. I realized that in a split second, and knew, in the back of my mind, that he really did have ally potential because of what he must have undergone.

But there was still too much going on in my mind. Still too much I needed to know. It all came back round to one simple fact: I definitely wasn't a kid anymore.

Looking down at my sister, I felt bad for her. I felt awful that I'd disappeared for a week, and I wanted desperately to talk to her about it, but now I had the challenge of working that in around someone else she'd been wanting to talk to even more. I didn't want this kind of tenseness to come up within the Corporation. Between me and my own sister.

God, there really was far too much catching up to do.

Things had been set in motion now. _La suerte esta echada. Alea jacta est._ No turning back. I felt like I'd be tested with every decision I made from here on out, because no matter which side, I was supposed to be a leader.

_Take charge,_ my reflection had advised me.

To hell and back, if only to put an end to this 'Tallest Tak' nonsense.

– – –


	12. Reunion 4: Concede

– – –

**Author's Note:**

_Invader Zim_ is -c- Jhonen Vasquez! Only the events of this story, characters specific to the story, and character tweaking (heh) are mine. :3

~Jizena~

– – –

_Gaz's Records_

Before I could catch up with Zim, my brother grabbed me and hauled me back. I scowled up at him, even though his new appearance made me feel so terribly small. "What?" I demanded.

"Don't tell him," Dib ordered, angry more at Zim than me, to be sure. "We both know what we are, but I don't trust him yet. He can't know."

"Tenn knows!" I shouted. "Other people do, too!"

_"Don't. Tell. Him,"_ my brother stressed again. Then, he let go of me, trying to calm himself. "Sorry, Gaz, I just... _I'm_ still coming to terms with it all. I've got enough to cope with already, I just—I _can't_ have Zim know right now. You and I still have to talk about it sometime. He can't know."

I was angry, but I understood. I sure as hell didn't want to blurt out everything to Zim right away, but at the same time, he deserved to know the truth. After all, we were all fed up with being out of the loop of certain secrets. It was a little hypocritical of my brother to be demanding I keep something from Zim, but, given what Dib had just gone through—meeting our mother and being exposed to Irken secrets over the course of a week—I couldn't blame him for being anxious and a little confused. "We should talk later," I agreed as we started back toward the front room. "I'll feel better when we do. Are you okay, by the way?"

"Huh?"

"Just... after whatever it is you just had to do... d'you feel okay?" I wondered.

"I'll be all right," Dib told me. "There's just a lot I need to work through. And a lot of people I need to discuss things with."

"Yeah..."

When we made it to the living room, we were both stopped in our tracks to find that Zim had found his way back here, but had fallen asleep on the sofa. He was passed right out, not bothered at all by the lights that were still on in the hallways. Dammit... this whole time, I'd been gearing up to talk to him, and he just had to go fall asleep before we could even say a proper hello.

It was so funny, Dib and I both laughed. I scorned Dib for his, since I knew he was making fun of Zim with it; my brother shrugged it off. "Thinks he can just walk right in here and—" he began.

"Let him stay," I urged.

"WHAT?" Dib looked awkwardly furious.

"Come on," I said. "Look at him. I hardly think he's a threat, Dib! Even on a trial basis or something. He's clearly not gonna kill us all in our sleep. Look at him, I mean it!" Taking a good look myself, I really did just see a guy who'd been pushing himself a little too far and was now exhausted from doing so. Just someone who needed a place to stay, someone who had a lot of fight in him, and with honest morals to fuel it. "There's plenty of other rooms, too," I hinted.

"Gaz..."

"Just do him this one favor," I asked him. "Look, we're all really tired right now. I'm exhausted. You're exhausted. Zim's already passed out. Don't make him keep sleeping on the couch, Dib, let him stay."

My brother let out a long breath, and glanced from me to where Zim slept uncomfortably on the sofa. Then, lowering his voice a little, he said, "Fine. For now. He's gotta prove himself, though, I'm going to have someone monitoring his every move. I don't trust him, not completely, okay? And you, just... keep... _whatever_ is between you to yourselves, all right?"

"Look, I don't even know if there _is_ a 'whatever,'" I told him honestly. "It's been a really long time."

"All right, all right, fine," my brother conceded. His mouth twitching upward to show a small grin, he added, "I'm guessing this means we're both too tired to talk about, y'know... where I've been and all..."

"Oh, God, I'm too tired to talk about anything, _especially_ that," I groaned. "I know enough about Mom, now, though. It's... it's weird," I admitted, "and a little scary, but I do want to talk about it."

"Once we're rested, then," Dib decided.

"Right, sounds good."

Before we could go our seperate ways for the evening, Dib pulled me in to hug me, and said, "Be careful, Gaz, all right?"

"Huh?"

"Just... around Zim. Just be careful."

I promised him I would, returned the hug, then let him wander off into his bedroom. The click of his door was the last thing I heard for a while, but I drank in the dark silence. I felt like I hadn't been surrounded in a calming quiet for a long time. I'd been so paranoid, my head so full of noise from too many thoughts.

When I turned around to walk through the living room area again, the sight on the sofa still made my heart skip. He was back. Zim really had come back. Human. Just in time for me to learn the truth behind what I was. The truth behind why I'd reminded him of Miyuki. I doubted myself for a moment—I didn't know if I could hold down a conversation with him without accidentally mentioning her. I didn't know if I could hold down a conversation with him and hope that I could block the noise from my mind.

I didn't know how well we'd still connect.

But our similarities hadn't changed. We'd both still lived for years with lies, both had to search for ourselves despite others feeding us words that ended up meaning nothing.

Zim slept with uneven but silent breaths. His shoulders rose and fell as one's normally do, and every few breaths he'd wince from the discomfort on his arm or back. I felt bad for him. I really did. I just hoped I could work through _everything_ I felt about him. Yes, I was glad he was back. God, was I glad. But I was the problem.

Whatever the outcome, though, I knew we'd talk as soon as he woke up. The first thing I wanted to do was help him out with those new scratches, and the remaining wound on his right arm, as well. It was horrible that that thing was still there. That he had to live with that. That Tak's hate was still carved into his skin, down to the bone. If there was any way to make that feel even a little better, I wanted to try to do so.

With a heavy breath, I walked back to my room. Lex was away, most likely talking things through with her father. That was too bad. I kind of actually wanted to have a little girl time with her. Because now that Zim was here, I sort of did want to tell Lex about the person who had given me that ring. The ring I decided to keep on my dresser, as I fell asleep. I could tell Zim I found it later. I wasn't quite ready to talk about it. I just wanted to talk _to him_ first. Just to make sure he was still as kind as I remembered.

I just didn't want to be too scared of myself to allow myself to try to love him again.

– – –


	13. Reunion 5 or Fragment 1: Trust

– – –

**Author's Note:**

_Invader Zim_ is -c- Jhonen Vasquez! Only the events of this story, characters specific to the story, and character tweaking (heh) are mine. :3

~Jizena~

– – –

_Zim's Records_

I awoke almost twenty hours later, still on the sofa, my arm slightly aching. I groaned and stiffly picked myself up; I'd fallen asleep very suddenly, and in a slightly awkward position, but the soft cushioning of the couch had proved to be a much better bed than the hard ground outside. Getting more normal rest had reminded my body what I really needed, though, so my recent bad sleeping habits caught up to me rapidly. And, now, of course I had registered and been thankful for the fact that I had woken up on a couch, but when I lifted my head, surprise still clinched me when I was reminded, by my surroundings, that I'd made it to the Swollen Eyeball. I sat up further, ready to take the room in, when I noticed a quilt slide down from my shoulders; I caught it before it could hit the floor, then held it up with both hands so I could take a closer look at the pattern. A grin instantly crept up on my face; I couldn't help it. Skulls. This black quilt was Gaz's.

And that cued the footsteps, the cautious, light footsteps that entered from the hall behind me. I set the quilt down on the couch, gave into a yawn and a stretch, then idiosyncratically ran a hand through my hair as I tried to both wake myself up and make myself presentable.

"You... must've been pretty tired," I heard Gaz say as she walked further into the room. My stomach worked itself into knots. How many apologies would I need to issue? What the hell could I possibly say..? "It's almost nine. At night. You've been out almost a day."

"Hmm," I mused, taking the thought in before I could get too choked up on words. "I'm glad I was able to sleep that long. Thanks for letting me... I haven't slept much lately..."

"So, um, how long have you been..?" Gaz began. At this point, she had entered, stepped soundlessly over to the chair opposite me and taken a seat. Next to her, she placed a big white first aid kit. She now sat poised but nervous, wearing black drawstring pajama pants and a fitted purple tank top with black lace trim. My heart sped up, and I had to make myself look away from her. I wasn't ready. I couldn't be ready.

"A few days now," I answered her.

"Oh," was her nearly whispered response.

An uncomfortable silence rose up between us, and I lifted my gaze to notice that she had averted hers. In that moment, I was afraid that awkward silences would plague us for a while. After all, there were three years between us now... three years during which I had tried so hard to erase my human tendencies, three years during which I had tried to prove myself a competent Invader to the Tallest, only to wind up yearning to be human more than ever, only to wind up getting the Tallest caught on Earth in human bodies, too. And I had no idea what that three years had brought upon Gaz. I had no idea how she had been, what had happened to her, how much she remembered or chose to care.

But I had my new goal. One of us had to start somewhere. Even if it was slow.

Even if it took another three years, I told myself, I would know her again.

"So, eh..." I began, oh-so-loquaciously, "hi..." Words did indeed fail me, in that moment. I had no idea how to approach the situation. We had interacted the night before, of course, but I had been so caught up (against my will...) with trying to convince Dib to hear me out; I hadn't had that long-coveted moment alone with Gaz. And now here she was... here we were, together, alone.

Now what?

"Hey..." Gaz managed in reply, her voice shaking ever so slightly. She took in a deep breath, and lifted her eyes again; I was instantly lost. God, I loved that girl's eyes. I couldn't explain why, but they comforted me.

Oh, sure, I had tried to work it out as an Irken. I had tried to convince myself that staying on the _Massive_ would ultimately lead me down the right path... but never during my time there had I felt anything like this. Not this kind of sense of belonging. Not this yearning for whatever came next, this intensity driving me forward toward anything. I was falling in love all over again... with Earth, with the feeling of being human, and of course, with that girl.

Before I could complete the thought in my head, I found myself saying, "I'm back."

Gaz's lips stretched into a thin smile, which she tried to hide by speaking. "Yeah," she said. "You are. And, um... Dib's letting you stay."

"Really?" Best news of the past couple days, definitely.

Gaz nodded. "He conceded last night, not long after you passed out," she told me. "He said he felt kinda sorry for you, and added that he'd like to have a talk with you later about your offer to fight for us. Thank you, by the way."

"Eh? For..?"

"Well, for offering to fight, for one," she clarified. "And also, just... for coming back at all. I mean it." She bowed her head; her wavy violet hair fell over her shoulders and covered her face. "You're my only friend in the world, Zim. I missed you." My heart skipped, but before I could apologize, Gaz picked her head up again, then stood. "Well, anyway. Anyway." She shook herself out. "I can't cry. I keep saying, I really shouldn't cry. It doesn't accomplish anything."

I smiled for her, trying to project as much an image of warmth and acceptance as I could, and told her, "It's okay, Gaz." She tightened her lips. "You can cry."

Gaz shook her head quickly, her hair whipping around her thin, porcelain face as she did so, and changed gears. "I'm done," she dismissed, "it's fine. Take your shirt off."

My arm sure as hell didn't hurt anymore, as I'm pretty sure every ounce of blood in my body rushed to my face. I sat up straighter in a snap, and stared wide-eyed at Gaz, who in turn flushed a flatteringly adorable shade of red after realizing what she'd said. "Oh, my God, no!" she covered, flustered. "Nooo, no, no, oh, shit, sorry, Zim, no, I meant... cuz your back's all cut up, so... if you... so I can clean the cut, and... bandage... thing... um..."

I laughed, in adoration of her sweet bout of ineloquence, and also at myself for immediately leaping to ridiculous conclusions. The jagged cuts from the Resisty alien's claws stung, and the awful, sweet, sticky smell of blood flooded my nostrils again, after hours and hours of ignoring it in sleep and even in conversation. "Gotcha," I said so that Gaz wouldn't have to rush to cover for herself any more. And with that, I calmed my own nerves (and hormones) and pulled my shirt off.

_Peeled_ it off is more like it, really. First off, I'd slept in it wet, since I was so out of it from the days of catching only a few hours here and there outside in the heat, and the long day of getting into a couple scrambles in the crash site itself and getting pretty beaten up in the thick of it. I'm sure I didn't look so great, either, which wasn't exactly the ideal way I'd pictured reuniting with Gaz. My hair and clothes still smelled a little of ash, though my skin had been more or less cleaned of it in the rain. But my back was giving me a little trouble. The blood had soaked into the damaged fabric of my shirt, and had caked some overnight, so peeling it off from that particular spot stung a bit, and I winced from the discomfort yet again.

Gaz, meanwhile, wandered with light steps back into the little kitchen and soaked a towel. She came back with it still dripping a bit, retrieved her first aid kit, and said, "Here, sit at an angle, okay?"

I did as she asked and angled my back toward her, rolling my shirt up so that the blood was wrapped in the rest of the fabric and wouldn't stain anything before I could throw the garment away. Gaz sat down tepidly behind me and set the cloth, ice cold to the touch, on the spot where the alien had left its mark. I sucked in a tense, quick breath to cope with the sudden sting, then relaxed as Gaz gently started to clean the bloody, damaged surface of my skin.

"Thank you," I told her. Gaz said nothing in reply, but I heard her hum out a little, which, to me, sounded like music. "It... that feels a lot better already."

"It's still there," she observed, her voice a bit unsteady.

"Eh? Well, of course, I mean, it'll heal up eventually, though, I just got it a few hours ago."

"No," Gaz corrected, and when I angled my head to look back at her as best I could, I saw that she was shaking her head again, and that her light brown eyes were focused on the ridge of my spine, the spot between my shoulderblades. "This other scar. The crossed one, the one where your PAK was."

"Oh," I said. Being reminded of the PAK's influence on me hurt somewhat, and I bowed my head, hoping it hadn't hurt her too much. "I, um... well... I'm still technically mostly Irken right now," I had to tell her.

"Mmhmm."

"But," I went on, "I want to be human. I can be, I, um, I learned that I can. I-I can change, so, I'm going to try."

"Why?"

A smile crossed my face before I even knew I felt like showing it. "Because," I answered, "I... I love this place. I love Earth, Gaz, and... everything it has to offer."

Gaz fell silent again, and switched to apply an antiseptic to the cuts, which stung to the point that I yelped a little. That got a slight laugh out of her, and she stuck a couple of long, large bandages in place. "There," she said. "Those're waterproof, too, so you can take a shower and they won't come off."

"Thanks again," I said, turning to face her. Despite the sting, Gaz really had done well to make that area feel less uncomfortable. "It really does feel better," I added.

"You're welcome," she mumbled. She then packed up the first aid kit again and said, "Come on. If you're still tired, I'll show you your room."

My heart skipped again. "My what?" I wondered.

"You get to stay," Gaz reminded me, standing. "We all have dorms here, so you get one of the empty ones. Come on."

I stood to follow, fighting back the urge to grab her hand. Couldn't we talk about—us? About what had happened after the Warp. I still had to apologize. Over and over again. And try to close any gaps between us. And tell her how I'd fight for her, and everything else I'd wanted to say. One thing I should have learned, though, I thought as I followed Gaz through to a door in the next hall, was not to try to plan out anything. My thoughts were nowhere near organized enough to try. I could just be happy being near her again.

As soon as she opened the door, too, I had so much more to be grateful for. It was a private room, a space all to myself, here at the Corporation, proving I was a part. Proving I really could make good on my declaration to rise up against the awful new Irken regime.

"You share a hallway with Dib and Victor Haynsworth. You can meet some of the others tomorrow," Gaz said, stepping in and turning on the light. "This'll be your room, while you're here," she said, opening the door. "Lex and I found you a few changes of clothes."

"Thank you," I managed, stepping in behind her and getting in a quick look around.

Gaz's eyes welled up with tears, and she turned to leave the room. Just before she could, I hesitantly reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, half against my will, and pleaded, "Don't go, Gaz. Not just yet..."

"Know what?" she said, looking back up at me and choking a little. "That's almost exactly what you said on your last night, last time you were..."

"Did you... miss me?" I had to know. "Or... or seeing me like this, I mean," I corrected.

"I... well... yeah..." said Gaz, tripping over her words. "How long'll it last this time?"

"I'm not sure," I told her, quietly and honestly. "Even if it's just for this moment, though, Gaz, I'm so glad to be human again."

Her tiny, albeit forced, smile spoke volumes.

I was overcome again. There she was. There. In front of me. Beautiful as I remembered. Unable to stop myself, wanting to express to her just how much this moment meant, just how long I had been holding back, how long I had been waiting to see her again, like this, I grasped her hands and leaned in.

I was unable to get too close, however; Gaz refused the kiss and shirked back, hanging her head down to the side. I felt a sting in my chest and stood up, hurt to have been denied. Then again, did I have any right to feel that way? Studying her expression... Gaz looked hurt, herself. Hurt, wronged, angry, abandoned. And all of that was thanks to me.

"What's wrong?" I tried, nonetheless.

Without missing a breath, Gaz asked, avoiding looking at me, "Why did you partner with Tak?"

"Why did I—it was a last defense, I—" I had no argument.

"It was stupid," Gaz said flatly, letting go of my hands. She folded her arms and glared up at me, brown eyes glassed over, pale cheeks flushed, lower lip trembling ever so slightly. "Why do you do stupid things?" she demanded. "Why did you side with her? After everything she's fucking _done_ to you, why did you think it would be a good idea to partner with her?"

"I didn't!" I admitted, trying not to shout. "I didn't think! I haven't been thinking straight in a long time! Gaz, it's taken me a while, but this whole time I've been gone, I've been trying to figure out exactly what it is I want out of life, what exactly my goals are. For so many years, people just _told me._ I was told what my limits were and what was expected, and that was it. Then," and here I gestured to myself, to my human likeness, "I got this opportunity, and it was like being able to breathe for the first time. When I went back to being Irken, nothing made sense. I tried so hard to make things work, so I ended up making some really dumb decisions. Look, I could stand here and give you excuses all night, but the real truth is... I... I fucked up." Gaz gave me an odd look, but I pressed on. "I fucked up. I didn't just make bad choices, I made _wrong_ choices. I've been having a hard time lately trying to figure out who I am, so as an Irken I tried things that even then I knew in the back of my mind wouldn't work."

"Why?"

"Why'd I do them?"

"Why'd you know they wouldn't work?"

"Because I have a conscience now," I told her. "I have a sense of moral and immoral; right and wrong. It was muted as an Irken, but it was still there. I'm not saying I know for sure that it's a real human conscience, but it's more than I ever had for inner guidance before."

"Right and wrong, huh?" said Gaz, chewing her bottom lip a little. "Wh... what does your conscience say is right, then?"

Oh, hell, oh, shit—my heart started pounding like crazy, and before I could stop myself, I answered, "This."

I didn't let her refuse this time.

But I wasn't forceful about it... or, at least, I hoped it didn't come off that way from her perspective. 'This' was gratitude; 'this' was comfort. 'This' was not taking what I wanted and laying claim to it. It was just appreciation. Familiarity. Friendship, for all I knew.

Being light in grip but strong with intention, I wrapped my arms around her to bring her close. I breathed in deeply, drinking in the intoxicating scent of lilacs that clung to Gaz like an aura, and pressed my lips to hers, feeling immediately rejuvinated. I tightened the grip I had with my right arm, and my left hand moved almost on its own to tilt Gaz's chin up gently, so that we met at a better angle.

The kiss was pure adrenaline, but also a test. I was afraid I'd pushed my luck, and once that worry hit me, I pulled back, to show I'd only had good intentions.

As soon as our eyes met, though, Gaz let go of me and melted into tears. "No," she choked, burying her face in her hands. "Oh... God, oh... no, fuck, no, no..."

"Gaz!" I gasped, knowing, just _knowing_ I'd done something wrong.

"Fuck," she cried. "God, now I'm crying again, fuck! I don't want you to see me crying, and I don't even know _why—"_

"It's okay to cry, you know," I told her, leaning right in so that I could look her in the eye. Gaz snapped her eyes shut, pressed her lips together, and shook her head. "Gaz... hey..." My voice was getting softer and softer on me... I'd forgotten I was even capable of speaking like that. "I'm your friend, remember?" I said, absentmindedly sweeping my right hand through her hair. "If you can't cry in front of a friend..."

"But it's stupid," she protested. "It's weak."

"You're not weak," I insisted. "I told you once before, and I'll say it again. Gaz isn't weak. Believe me."

Gaz bit her lip, still choking everything back, and folded her arms across her chest. "It's hard," she said, as evenly as she could.

"I'm sure it is," I sympathized. "Look, Gaz..." Oh. Saying her name so many times gave me a renewed sense of being. It made me stronger. It made my goals seem more reachable. "It's okay," I said again. "Really."

"No," she repeated, "it's not. Zim, it's really not..."

"Well... can you tell me what's wrong?" I asked her. "I-if I can help, I want to. I..."

"It's nothing I can tell you right now, okay? I'm... I'm sorry."

"What do you mean, you can't—"

"I can't tell you!" she snapped. "I just... I can't. Okay?"

I certainly hoped that I wasn't the sole reason for Gaz's discomfort and refusal of what reassurance I was attempting to offer. It hurt to see her looking so, for lack of a better word, alone, and I knew that I was at least responsible for that. I just hoped I could fix things. "Okay," I gave in. "All right. Gaz, it's all right." Drawing in a slightly staggered breath, I added, "If you ever do want to talk, though, please, come find me."

Gaz drew in a few long breaths, then nodded. "Thanks," she whispered. "My life's really messed up right now, Zim. That's all."

"Sure, and I understand," I told her. "Things get hard. Find me if you think I can help, though. I want to help, all right? Because I know, whatever it is that might be hurting you, you really are strong enough to rise above it. But Gaz, if—if I'm making you too uncomfortable... I mean, I remember that you don't really like physical contact, but..."

"Sorry," said Gaz. "I'm just... I'm really tired. No, I don't like physical contact all that much, and it's just really sucked not having you here, and... sorry."

"Don't worry about it," I told her. "We're both tired. I'm sure you've been through a lot. We can talk later, if you want to. It's okay. Whatever you're comfortable with, all right?"

Gaz nodded. "Thanks," she said. "It's been tough for me. Maybe we can talk later. But, um... but can we just... ugh, this is awful, but, can we just—can we be friends for a while? I mean, I remember, during the Incident, how... and it was great, but... just... because so much has happened—GOD! I can't say anything properly right now..."

Even though this wasn't my ideal situation, I laughed, hoping she wouldn't take it poorly. At least we were here together. That counted for so much. "I don't mind," I said. "Again, whatever you're comfortable with. We can even stop here for now and both get some sleep. How's that?"

"Really?"

"Well," I ventured, hoping I wasn't going too far, "can I at least kiss you goodnight? It doesn't have to mean anything tomorrow, we can just... be friends and see what happens. Is that okay?"

"You're okay with that?" she wondered, looking hopeful.

"Gaz, I want you to know I'm here for you," I told her. "If this is how you want it to be, that's okay." I mean, yes, I wanted to call her my girlfriend again, but that could come with time. Time I felt I had now. "I know I'll be human for far longer than a week this time. I told you, it's my goal to stay like this for good. I love you, but I know things take time. I don't have to say it anymore after tonight. If there's a time you don't want to talk, we don't have to. Let's just start off being friends again. I've just... really missed you."

Gaz, who had looked attentive, and even captivated, the entire time, stepped up to me. The girl who hated physical contact laced her fingers lightly between mine, and rested her head on my chest. After a few beautiful seconds of nothing but sweet silence, she said, "That's okay. That sounds okay." She lifted her head to meet my eyes again, and added, "I missed you, too."

Her grip on my hands tightened a bit, and soon they were clasped completely. Then, she allowed me, at last, to lean down, compensating for a slightly more significant height difference this time around, and kiss her. She hesitated for a moment, then opened up and returned it, letting me in just a little, just enough to show that she wasn't furious with me. To say that we still had a chance to bring a friendship to a more heightened level.

To say, though she did not know this yet at the time, that I did indeed have that chance of proving that I could love. Of proving myself worthy enough to deviate from the Irken race entirely and earn a human soul.

I made myself stop before I could get too carried away, but graced Gaz's forehead with a small kiss as I pulled back. Moving my right hand up to smooth down her soft violet hair, I kept my eyes locked on hers and said, "That was a goodnight kiss, so I guess this is goodnight."

"Oh," said Gaz, who seemed to have been lost for a second, "yeah. Y-yeah." She let go of my left hand and stepped away, back toward the door. "Get some sleep, Zim. I'm... I'm glad you get to stay."

"So am I," I smiled.

"And I mean it," she said, her left hand fumbling for the knob. "Thank you for coming back. Thank you for being on our side."

"Thank you," I followed, "for believing that I would."

Gaz showed a small but significant smile of her own, then stepped softly out of the room, closing the door with a barely audible click behind her.

I let out a silent sigh and stepped back to sit on the bed. It was alarmingly comfortable, and not just in comparison to the uneven ground outside. I felt like I was being treated like an honored guest, even though I knew I'd have watchful agent eyes on me at all times. It didn't matter, though, I told myself as I sprawled out on the mattress, sinking into the comfort and feeling myself already drifting to sleep. It didn't matter, because nothing could change the fact that I'd done it. I'd made it. Here I was, at the Swollen Eyeball, a part of the human Corporation that really had a chance at stopping Tak. Here I was, already accepted by a few of them, already trusted. Already with one-quarter of a human soul.

And I'd earn the rest, too, I thought. No matter what it took. Because the girl I loved was so close again. Because I had real reason to fight. Because I had confirmation that we could slowly work through a friendship and toward something wonderful.

This was why I wanted to be human.

Because being human meant feeling alive.

– – –

– – –

**Author's Note:**

And here we go! Sorry, this went up a little later than I wanted, but I'm glad I got these chapters all posted today. I hope you all liked the way the reunion played out… I feel bad for Gaz (poor girl's got way too much to cope with, eh?); Zim still has some work ahead of him, but now the _Saga_ really gets going.

Now that Zim has found his way to the Corporation complex, we're coming upon some of my favorite parts of the story. We still have the Tallest to catch up with, and some histories to learn~! (And, of course, we'll have to see what comes of this ally deal and friendship situation. :D) I hope you'll all stick with me as things continue to unfold… ^^

And, everyone… these comments and reviews are just… amazing. ^/^ I mean it, thank you all so much! I love reading these comments; I'm so glad you've been enjoying the _Saga_ so much, and I love hearing what you think. Having such an awesome readership makes me really glad that I decided to start posting this story~ :3

Sadly, though, I may end up needing to push back next week's update time, but I am not sure of this yet. By Wednesday the 17th, I'll post in my profile if I'll be needing to change the time (or push into the following week), but barring any troubles, I will definitely see you again **next Friday, August 19****th****!**

Hooray! :3

~Jizena~

– – –


	14. New Leadership 1: Catching Up

– – –

**Author's Note:**

_Invader Zim_ is -c- Jhonen Vasquez! Only the events of this story, characters specific to the story, and character tweaking (heh) are mine. :3

~Jizena~

– – –

_Dib's Records_

In an already rare turn of events, I allowed myself a day to take it easy. This was primarily thanks to the fact that Zim slept right through it. That saved me from having to deal with the primary annoyance that had come up since my arrival back home. Other things, of course, had to be dealt with and came up throughout the day... 'take it easy,' for me, essentially meant, 'have no set schedule,' which was both nice and chaotic at the same time. I designed it myself, though (other than some random questions needing to be answered), and that was enough to make me feel like I was in control.

Despite all of the cosmic zen (as I continued to call it) that Miyuki had drilled into me, I felt more worked up than ever, mainly because I still felt so unprepared. When I woke and showered (fucking _finally)_ that morning, I snagged a look in a mirror, confirming, with a bit of a shudder, that I had indeed grown in an unavoidably noticeable way. In height, primarily, but I did appear... not fourteen. I didn't feel fourteen. I felt... awkward. So, then, maybe I _did_ feel fourteen. It was all just so... abnormal. And sudden.

When I walked back out, once dressed, into the common area, I first noticed that Gaz was awake and slowly picking at a dry piece of toast, and then that Zim continued to sleep, completely undisturbed, under one of my sister's sheets on the sofa.

Trying my best to ignore him, I walked into the kitchen, said a good morning to my sister, and put water on for tea. Gaz cracked off another piece of her brittle bread, then spun on her stool to speak to me. "Hey," she began.

"What's up?" I wondered.

Gaz was silent for a few seconds, snapped at the crust of her toast again, then asked me, downcasting her eyes, "What's... what's she like?"

"Who?" I wondered. Gaz snorted and crushed the toast down into crumbs on her small black plate. "Miyuki?"

"Mom," she corrected.

I shook my head. "Gaz..." I started, about to go off on why I didn't want to call Miyuki that ever, at all. My sister was fragile and desperate, though, so I sighed and put my own problems aside for the time being. "She's... she's really... intense," I decided on saying. "Actually, she's a lot like Dad."

"Awesome," said Gaz bluntly, raising her thin eyebrows a little. I knew what she meant, and all too well. Our parents were both, for lack of a better word, yes, intense. Highly cryptic, heavily secretive, extraordinarily obsessed with their work. Inventors both, they must have bonded over a similar love of engineering and the paranormal. It made sense. Odd sense, but sense in some semblance of the word.

"No, I mean..." I tried to cover, to no avail, "well..." Gaz shot me a glare, and I relented. "Sorry," I said, "I'm a little biased. It's been a hell of a week."

"I'd imagine," Gaz mumbled. "What was it like?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, what'd you do? You know?"

The water had a while yet to go, so I leaned over the counter and regaled Gaz with the basics of the preceding week. I told her about the dimension our mother had been trapped in our entire lives, about finding the natural electricity in the air to create the attacks she'd seen me use during the Resisty attack, and about Miyuki's random stories from the past. I left out details about the PAK and about the Mirror, just in case someone else walked in or, God forbid, Zim woke up.

I was midway into asking Gaz if she was all right when her roommate walked in. Lex's shortish brown hair was up in a tousled, bedhead ponytail, and she wore sleeper shorts and a tight green tank top which exposed much of her skin... skin that had seen a fair assortment of attacks the night before. It made me uncomfortable. I'd sent that girl up to the roof as a sniper, but she must have endured more than enough before I'd arrived; her arms bore scratches (not as bad as the one on Zim's back... these looked like they could very well have been caused by a cat, but were so fresh I knew anything but an alien was out of the question) and it appeared that her fair skin bruised easily, as evidenced by plenty of black and blue marks on her legs and upper arms. It hit me again: what the hell was I getting into, as leader of this Corporation? If Lex looked that scuffed up, I could only imagine how the rest of the crew had fared. I'd not been informed of any fatalities, and was almost afraid to ask.

"Oh, hello," Lex said in a half-awake greeting. Her face contorted when she saw me staring at her battlescars, and she cleared her throat; when I met her eyes, they bore into me angrily as she demanded, "Can I help you?"

"Sorry," I said, turning back to the burner to listen to the boiling of the water. Still not quite ready. "Just..."

"What?" Lex wondered.

"Nothing!" I said, putting up my defense and snapping back to look at her. "You got hurt in the fight, that's all! And it pisses me off that I wasn't here to stop it before anyone could get hurt. Did you see anyone... you know..?"

"Die?" Just based on the way she said that, I knew she'd experienced it before. All I could think was that her father must have run a much better operation over in England that my predecessor Richard Dyer had done here. The Haynsworths had a wealth of experience between them, and they were just a father-daughter pair from one part of the whole London branch. The American branch (which, I was realizing more and more, was sparse and contained primarily to states north of Pennsylvania) didn't seem to have as much field expertise as the branches abroad did. Then again, I couldn't speak for the generation of Agents that had worked with my father. God, that was still weird to think about. "I rarely notice in the midst of things," Lex went on to say. "My immediate companions weren't killed, and that's all I know.

"A lot of people got rushed to the infirmary," Gaz offered. "I saw Charlotte Baudelaire this morning and she told me that." It figured, Charlotte would already be working. If only Dad could have handled work and pressure the way that coolheaded woman did. "Lex and me and the Trujillos and Lex's dad all got out just a little scratched and stuff, but I guess other people got it worse."

"It's a shame..." Lex began, then trailed off.

"What?" Gaz and I wondered together.

"Nothing," Lex passed it off. "Just... Daddy used to know someone who'd be quite helpful in this situation."

"Someone in England?" I ventured.

Lex shrugged, then padded into the kitchen and opened the fridge to pull out an apple for her breakfast. "Sort of," she answered. "It doesn't matter anyway."

"Why not?" I pressured her. "If there's someone who can help—"

"Doesn't really help when that person is no longer living," Lex snapped back at me.

"Oh." I shut myself up. No shit that girl had seen death. I did want to talk to her and her father about their vampire work at some point. No doubt specializing in the undead would give one an interesting view on life and death in general.

Nothing else was really said after that. Gaz and her roommate both took tea themselves, and when Lex went back to their bedroom, I called my sister back into my office so we could talk in private. So that I could tell her the more intricate details of things. So that she could tell me whatever she knew.

And it turned out that she knew quite a bit. Charlotte and Professor Haynsworth had filled her in on our parents' past in the once-Organization, now-Corporation, at least, and, of course, she knew about our mother being Tallest Miyuki. We shared an awful moment of silence on that fact.

I knew why Gaz was uncomfortable. Every reason for that discomfort was lying out in the common room. So conversation eventually degenerated into that, before I could fill her in on the bits of my training that I thought would haunt me forever.

"So, you... ugh, you... love him, or something, right?" I asked her, midway into our conversation about Zim's reappearance.

Gaz shrank back into the chair she was sitting in. "I... don't really know anymore..." she told me.

"Huh?" I wondered. "During the Incident, you were all—"

"I know," Gaz cut me off sharply, her eyes cutting daggers up at me. "Just... with the light shed on recent information, I... I don't know, Dib. I still like him, and I missed him, and you know that. Yes, I'm glad he's back, and yes, I'm glad he's human, and hell yes, I'm glad you're letting him stay. I just... I'm afraid he'll just... break when he finds out. You know?"

"About our background?" I guessed.

"Yeah."

I couldn't argue that. I felt pretty broken myself. Then again, that shit was in _my family,_ so I had more right to be. "Right," I ended up saying, "so don't tell him."

"I won't, whatever," Gaz muttered. "Just... Dib, _that_ part is breaking _me._ Just wanted you to know."

Her words sat heavy on me for the rest of the day. I talked over the rest of my training after that comment, and after about two solid minutes of silence that followed. I told her about the influence of an Irken PAK, and how uncomfortable it made me feel, and how, once her time for training came, she should try her best not to be afraid. We talked, as well, about our weapons. About the daggers Miyuki had somehow sent to her several years prior, about the strange Irken blade she had gifted onto me. Gaz suggested I interview the foreign reps for swordfighters, which was the best thing, it seemed, anyone said to me all day, so I started to think about my options.

After our long talk, Charlotte sought me out to give me the lowdown on the Resisty strike. Tenn had identified each of the alien species, and she and Nacea were currently helping one of the Corporation doctors in autopsy. As much as I wanted to run with Charlotte right over to the autopsy room, I knew my stomach couldn't take it. I'd get briefed on it later. For now, though, Charlotte assured me, Cthulhu and Bloodrose were overseeing a gate getting put up around our perimeter, keeping us even more segregated from the rest of town.

Separating me that much more from my father.

It was well into evening before I finally was able to get around to talking to Professor Haynsworth. I needed a good, long talk with the most level-headed, sane person I knew. Apparently, he'd been thinking entirely along the same lines I was, since, when I opened his office door, he was already seated in one of the comfortable, well-upholstered chairs with a bottle of wine chilling in a clear bowl on the table beside him. One glass was poured one-third full, and another sat waiting beside it.

"Ah," he greeted me, looking up. "Hello, there. Care for a glass of wine?"

As that had, honestly, been my very thought upon waking up in the portrait room the night before, I had to let out a small laugh—mostly for relief—as I said, "Actually... that'd be great." Shutting the door behind me, I joined the Professor in the middle of his office; he stood to pour and hand me the second glass, and just as I was about to thank him, I looked at the clear, sweet-smelling liquid, "You sure you want to give me this? I'm only fourteen."

"I won't tell anyone if you don't," he laughed.

"Well... thanks," I said, taking a seat. As Professor Haynsworth refilled his own glass and set the bottle back into its bowl of ice, I noticed, "You were kind of prepared to talk today, huh?"

"A bit," he admitted. "Try it," he then urged, while I was still just staring at my glass of wine. I'd never actually had wine before, and therefore had no idea if I would like it or if it would have any effect on me, but the Professor seemed convinced that it was fine. "It's a South African Sauvignon Blanc; you'll like it, it's a bit lighter and smoother than most."

"Sure..." I gave the drink a try, sampling one small sip that then proceeded to wake me up with a kick to my throat and tongue; despite the acidity of the onset, I found that it went down easy, and was left with a biting but pleasant sensation on the tongue afterward. "It's good," I complimented the Professor; "thanks."

"My pleasure," he smiled, taking a sip of his own. "Now, what's on your mind?"

I spilled. I let every bit of the unease I'd felt throughout training with Miyuki come out in full, pouring all of my insecurities out to Professor Haynsworth's listening ear. "It's awful," I managed partway through; I set my wine glass aside and slumped down in the chair a little, "I mean... all these years, I'd always sort of wondered about my mother, only to find that her secret was right under my nose this whole time... and I don't know if it would have been better to know everything about her from the start, but..."

"But you survived," my appointed counselor noted.

"Huh?"

"In spite of anything negative that can be said about your recent reunion with your mother," the Professor said evenly, "you still came out of it well-trained. You managed to come back with impeccable timing to help your Corporation in a time of need, and it seems your eyes have not been clouded by any Irken notions, so a lot of good can be said of your experience."

"God," I sighed, burying my head in my hands. "I've been worked up all day. I've gotta learn to come talk to you first, before I do anything else."

Professor Haynsworth smiled, I noticed when I looked up again, though a little distantly. He'd seemed a little disheartened since our talk began, in fact, so, in a turn, I asked him, "How are you? I mean... how's stuff been here, while I've been gone?"

"Oh, dear," he commented before he started. "Well, you've not missed much around here, though I should fill you in on a small mission of my own..."

And thus I was filled in on the Professor's attempt at an intervention with Dad. One of, apparently, a long string of them throughout the past decade. Our conversation then became something of a tirade, which was previously something I'd not gotten from Professor Haynsworth. He and Dad, based on the past he wove in words for me each time we spoke, could easily have been family, based on similar interests and bright goals. They had both wanted so much for the Swollen Eyeball at its onset, so when my father went off the deep end, Victor Haynsworth had taken matters into his own hands and simply built up his own branch of the Organization, keeping in touch with the American branch, but mostly spreading influence where he could in hopes my father would come around.

Dad would have none of it, he said. No kidding. I gave the Professor my full opinion on my father; he listened, but tried again to assure me that Dad hadn't always been that way. Had my training with Miyuki been a little less, oh, ridiculous and terrifying, I may have found it in me then to demand that she show herself around my father again, but by this point, I was so apathetic toward both of my parents, I didn't feel any regret for not having done so.

"So, then," I transitioned at the end, "Dad knew." I took in a deep breath, then another small sip of wine as I tried to wrap my head around the idea yet again. "Dad's always known about us. About all this. Mom, and the Empire, and... everything..."

"Your father was once a very open man," the Professor said sadly. "I'm confident that someday he'll come round to his original visions again. He owes it to both you and your sister."

No kidding.

Professor Haynsworth then went on to tell me of how Tenn helped him identify the Resisty, and I made a point to go talk to her later on, just so I could catch the names of the alien races involved, but my mind wandered during my current talk once Zim was mentioned. "He seems like a very headstrong individual," the Professor pointed out. "He's assured me he's an ally, so—"

"Zim says a lot of things," I cut in quickly. The Professor was taken aback, so I sighed and apologized for the outburst. "Sorry," I said, "but I've dealt with his crap for years. He used to be a total idiot, and I think he kind of still is. It's so... _weird_ that he's here. I've been gearing up this whole time to have the Corporation oppose him, but now he says he'll fight _for_ us, and..."

"Well," the Professor suggested, "give him a chance. That's all part of being a leader, isn't it? Allow someone the chance to prove himself. I've kept an open mind despite some skepticism within my own branch before, and many times, it's turned out for the better. You're already a wonderful leader, Dib, and don't let anyone try to convince you otherwise."

"You think?"

"Absolutely. And if you don't mind my saying so, your training seems to have reflected that as well." No, I didn't mind his saying so, but being reminded about my physical change at all was a little awkward.

"It's weird," I said, clearing my throat, as my voice was not only changing, but already levelling out. "It's all... out of place that I look older and all..."

"I don't think it's out of place at all," said the Professor. "You've simply... grown into your experience, Dib." Huh. I liked that, and I told him so. It was just enough to get me through the next few days, actually.

Because, given what was set to happen those next few days, I definitely needed at least something to keep me going.

– – –

– – –

**Author's Note:**

Hey, everyone! Sorry, I hope you all got my little note that I had to push back the update… things got crazy this week, and there's so much retooling of the 'days immediately following the reunion' part of this that I want to do, so this chapter, while it is followed by a deliciously long Zim one, will stand on its own for now, and I promise to have another big update next week! :3

Thank you all so much for sticking with me~! I'm glad you all enjoyed last week's monster update (it was so much fun, aaaahhh), and rest assured that there is plenty to come~! ^^ After all, the Tallest need to resurface again, soon…

Again, apologies for the late (and shoooorrrrt, I have a weird complex about short chapters…) update, but I will see you again with a hefty one next **Friday, August 26****th****!**

~Jizena~

– – –


	15. New Arrivals 1: Day One

– – –

**Author's Note:**

_Invader Zim_ is -c- Jhonen Vasquez! Only the events of this story, characters specific to the story, and character tweaking (heh) are mine. :3

~Jizena~

– – –

_Zim's Records_

The following morning, I felt more relaxed and rejuvenated than ever. Casting a glance over at the clock, I found that it was still pretty early: 8:13 AM. I wondered if anyone else was awake yet. The small window on the back wall allowed a fair amount of sunlight to spill into the room, bringing my surroundings into color. The walls, which had been very dark at night, appeared now to be a deep blue, while the carpet was a nondescript, industrial brown. A uniform room, yes, but one I could call my own, at least for the time being. Aside from a private bed, I had my own chest of drawers, which Gaz and the girl she'd referenced the night before had stocked full of clothes, I noticed when I curiously opened and closed every drawer.

While everything was seeming to look up for me, I still felt some discomfort from the night before. My back hurt from the attack I'd endured for Gaz, and sleeping in damp clothes hadn't exactly been the most delightful thing I'd done in recent hours. Being here, however, I could finally get back into the routine I'd grown to enjoy during my last experience as a human.

Grabbing a towel from the bottom drawer, I started down the hall until I found the bathroom. It was enormous, divided into two sections so that two people could shower at the same time without disturbing the other, but the sinks met in the middle. I noticed that each shower was fully stocked, and extra towels were available.

Setting my towel down on the nearby shelf, I pulled off my socks, allowing my feet to breathe, then slid my pants off. I didn't notice how wet they'd gotten in the rain until I was out of them. I heaved a sigh and turned the shower on, letting the water heat.

I smiled childishly. I'd loved taking showers back when I was first given a human body, just because of how long I could stand warm, relaxing water beating down on me without the discomfort it caused Irkens. I remember feeling smug the first time I'd actually taken one.

While waiting for the water to get to the right temperature, I strode over toward the sinks to see if toothpaste and the like was fully stocked as well. Another thing I loved about being human was the pressure of wanting to take good care of oneself hygienically. Irkens didn't care, nor did they really need to bother with hygiene. It was _more_ of a reprieve to me to have to shower and such, whereas many humans would probably think the opposite.

Before I could even check for any supplies, however, I was distracted by the mirror that hung over the sink. I doubled backwards at the first sight of my reflection. A natural reaction, as this was my first time seeing my human reflection in approximately three years. I stepped toward the mirror to get a good long look at the reflection I wanted to make permanent.

Seeing myself like that, I almost forgot what I looked like as an Irken again, and the change was more than welcome. I smiled in spite of myself, leaning over the sink and running my hand through my thick mess of black hair.

"My name is Zim," I introduced myself to my reflection, seeing if the name fit the image, "and I'm a human."

Okay, _that_ felt good. More and more, the thought of earning a soul and becoming indefinitely human was giving me a new outlook on life, a new goal I longed to achieve. _I really do want to be human, don't I?_ I thought to myself. _Just like that I'm going to do away with the Irken me. I'm going to create a better life for myself._

I grinned again and straightened, still gripping the edges of the sink a bit. This was the first time I'd even thought to take a good look at the rest of my body, at least since I'd decided I wanted to live this way forever. At first it was so strange—to see exactly what the human body looked like—but I was rapidly getting used to it. For the time being though, I just marvelled at the differences between my old Irken body and my obviously stronger human one.

For the first time, I was able to see what made me so strong; it wasn't just in my arms. The broadness of my shoulders, the finely-toned contours of my arms and upper torso, the way each single muscle fit into the others—it was all too fascinating to me. I was still sore as hell, though, and the marks all over my skin reminded me why. I'd bruised in a few places, and had some scratch marks left over from scuffles against the Resisty as well as, I realized, the rough landing I'd gone through when I'd leapt from the _Massive_ in order to save the Tallest. Plus, there were a few marks from Tallest Red himself, from when he threw me during our little spars.

I turned to examine my back, which I'd seen in the mirror only once before. The bandage Gaz had applied the night before neatly covered up the worst Resisty wound I'd gotten out with, and, just as Gaz had pointed out, the scars still ran down my back in a cross-shaped pattern, telling me, "You're not quite human _yet."_

Putting that thought out of my mind, I walked back over toward the shower without even doing what I'd walked to the sink to do in the first place, and, after throwing my boxers over on top of my still-dampened pants, stepped in. The water was incredibly soothing. Humans really didn't know what a gift they had, simply to _call_ themselves just that: 'human.' It was a blessing, really. Compared to what Irkens had to go through, human life was paradise, no matter how many hardships they as well had to put up with in the course of their significantly shorter lives.

That thought caused my heart to skip. If I became human, I would eventually feel the cold sting of death. I would age; sixteen years of a full human lifespan were already gone, so how long would I have? And what would become of me, throughout the course of my short yet wonderful life? If I earned a soul, what would become of my possible 'relationship' with Gaz?

Would I... _marry_ her? I felt my face flush as my hormones raged. _Stop it,_ I told myself. _You're not even sure if she loves you the way you love her yet._

But _still!_ What would be worse than giving up my Irken longevity would be keeping it, knowing that Gaz would die ages before my PAK even began to fully shut down, should I give up my goal and concede to remaining Irken. The thought chilled me.

But, being human...

I angrily washed my hair, hating myself for having eerily existential thoughts so quickly after such a grand opportunity had been thrust in my direction. And so damn early in the morning.

_I'll have to 'grow up' eventually,_ I reminded myself nonetheless. _If I remain human, I'll have to face life in the same way that everyone else does._ I'd have to accept each passing year, undergo toils of education and eventually find work. _Would_ I get married? Have _children,_ even?

"Argh! Don't think about that right now, Zim, you idiot!" I shouted at myself, my deep voice resonating off the high shower walls. I bent my head backwards, washing the shampoo out of my hair in the way I wished to wash these thoughts from my mind. "You're sixteen for crying out loud," I muttered, brushing my bangs back into the rest of my hair with one hand. "Come on, don't be stupid. Focus on getting a soul first. Focus on your goal..."

_**Get**__ the girl first. Then worry about what comes after._

After that, I had to laugh at myself. Everyone was right. I was a total idiot. Just in a different way, now, than... oh, say, ruining Invasion plans.

Thinking of that... my thoughts turned to the Tallest. I'd been asleep for quite some time; I just had to hope that they were doing okay. As I reluctantly hauled myself out of the shower and began to towel off, I wondered, even, if they had possibly met up with that woman I'd saved from the Resisty. The reporter. Thinking quickly, I fished the business card she'd given me out of my pants pocket before discarding my worn-out clothes in the disposal chute marked 'laundry' on the far wall, and cupped it in one hand as I secured the towel around my waist since, I realized, I'd forgotten to bring in a change of clothes.

So, of course, who should walk into the bathroom but Dib, his glasses slightly askew, wearing only black flannel pants, a towel slung over his right shoulder.

I almost reeled back, but managed to maintain something along the lines of control. Dib, on the other hand, eyes dark from what could only have been lack of sleep, showed his shock by shouting, "Oh, my God! Human decency, come on!"

"Towel!" I shouted back in self-defense, indicating I was, in fact, 'decent.' "I'm wearing a towel, _what?"_

Dib just groaned. "See you found your way around alright," he muttered, slightly massaging one side of his head with that hand, then straightening his glasses.

"Uh... yes," I replied, trying to sound as courteous as I possibly could. "Thanks."

Dib seemed slightly perturbed at my use of a word of gratitude, then just said, "Hmf," and started toward the other side of the large room.

"Don't introduce yourself to anyone yet," he cautioned, his voice still echoing the fact that he'd just woken up. "I kinda told them about you."

"That should be okay though, right?" I ventured.

"I didn't say I said anything _good_ about you... _Invader_ Zim."

My heart sank and I left, telling myself to just make the most of what I had.

Make the most of what I had. Right. I shook my head, my thought about the Tallest starting to worry me. I'd left them with GIR. GIR couldn't find his way out of a paper bag. Why the hell had I decided that it was okay for them to only have him as a navigation system? Or, well... there was always the possibility that they had become really caught up in the Resisty attack. I had plenty of hope that they could hold their own in a fight, but I tried not to think of any outcomes that would stem from a Resisty member possibly recognizing them.

As I started back toward my room, it was just my luck that I'd have another random encounter. "Good morning!" a much more awake voice greeted me. This time I did jump, and clenched the hand with which I also held the business card tightly around the knot on my towel so as to uphold that 'human decency.' When I turned, I saw the man who had shown me the way to the Corporation grounds, Victor Haynsworth. He was fully dressed, professionally as he had been before, and looking a little less intimidating without his crossbow. "I was glad to hear that Dib offered you a room."

"I... yeah, me, too," I said. "Nice to, um... see you. Again. Thanks for bringing me here," I added. "I kind of passed out before I could really say thanks."

"No harm done," the man smiled. "You'll fight for us, then?"

"I... yes."

Before I could worry about any kind of conversation, a girl's voice rang out from the direction of the common room: "Daddy, are you going to help me with breakfast?" The voice drew closer as a brown-haired girl appeared in the open entrance between the common room and the hallway. "Both of our names are down this morning, but I only need help with some finishing details."

Victor turned to look at her, and I immediately saw the resemblance: they had to be father and daughter. "Yes," he said, "coming, Lex." Lex... ah, yes—Gaz had mentioned that name the night before, as the one who had helped her stock up my room. To me, her father added, "I'm sure we'll have the opportunity to speak later. I do hope you'll be joining us for breakfast. As horrifying as it is that we're soon going to war, it is nice to see new faces around here."

Oh, man, he just _had_ to say it. The war thing. That thing that was kind of my fault and that Dib had kind of told his Corporation was my fault. Man, that was still getting me, too: Dib was in charge. The whole Swollen Eyeball was his. May as well make him leader of Earth, since this place would no doubt be Tak's primary target.

"I will," I answered. "I'm looking forward to being here, and... um... meeting everyone."

"Wonderful! In that case, it's only right that you should meet my daughter, Lex," said Victor, as he crossed through to the other room, "as she's the one primarily responsible for breakfast this morning."

"Lovely tact," his daughter said, unimpressed. Victor laughed, and continued toward the kitchen. To me, Lex said a quick, "Hello; I'm Gaz Membrane's roommate, Alexandria Haynsworth, and apparently the fact that I made breakfast warranted me a speedy introduction."

"Nice to meet you," I said hurriedly, "but I'd really kind of rather exchange pleasantries once I'm... eh..."

"Wearing clothes?" the girl offered, folding her arms smugly.

"Yeah, that."

"I'd rather that were the case, as well," she said. But she just _had_ to add, as I was turning back toward my room, "Just one question."

"A question that can't wait for me to be dressed to answer?" I groaned.

Lex laughed, clearly seeing something or other as a complete joke. "I just have to know... are you Gaz's boyfriend or something?"

_"Heh?"_ I was sure I looked _fantastic_ right about then, probably flushed, and feeling my eyebrows knit in pure confusion. And only wearing a couple bandages and a _towel._

"Well, if you aren't," Gaz's roommate continued laughing, "I'd suggest you move on her soon. She keeps talking about someone, and from how speechless she's been since you've arrived, I was guessing it was you."

"Um..." Of course, my brain was going crazy. Proof that Gaz hadn't _completely_ closed herself off from the feelings that seemed to have been developing during the Warp! This was good. But... "I'd really like to go get dressed now."

"She'll be at breakfast!" sang the girl who apparently was bent on playing matchmaker for me, as she headed back to the kitchen. Well, I realized... having Gaz's roommate trying to get us (back) together was probably a fortunate thing. Though, of course, I did want to make it happen on my own; well, let Gaz come back around on her own. Because we'd had something. We _had._ And we'd spark something again. I knew we would.

Once back in my room, I dressed (at last) in a clean, dark red shirt and a pair of blue jeans. Everything fit perfectly, which, to me, meant that Gaz must have really been paying attention back during the Warp. The fact that she'd picked everything out, regardless of whether she'd had help, made the clothes just that much more comfortable. She'd even provided me with extra socks and sneakers.

Having been forbidden to speak to anyone—which was something I remembered just as I was getting ready to head out into the kitchen—I decided to take some time to peruse the bookshelf in the room. It was stocked with plenty of books, several of which looked very worn, and a handful of which fit the paranormal theme of the whole place: _The Call of Cthulhu and Other Stories; Dracula; The Mothman Prophecies,_ and so on. One book caught my eye, though, and I pulled it out, curious as to its contents, and sat on the edge of my bed to flip through the hardcover's thin pages.

It was a book of poetry. The cover was green and hard but flexible, and the pages were yellowing but in no way torn. Some of the pages were bookmarked, others barely touched. It fell open naturally at the middle of the spine, but most of the bookmarks were in the earlier pages, with a few exceptions in the latter half.

I'd never read poetry before. I never saw the appeal to it, back then—back before I cared so deeply for this planet. I happened to come upon a certain one which noted in the first stanza the color red. Knowing that it really shouldn't be such a big deal, that it was just a word, nonetheless I felt my heart skip, since the Tallest kept on coming to mind.

They knew nothing about Earth, or so I thought. The two were definitely hiding something, and I was determined to find out what it was. Why was Red suddenly so accepting of me? What strange, unknown incident had Purple been trying to cover up? And why on Earth was the second so easy in accepting his drastic change in height? Nearly a _foot,_ and all he'd said was, "I'm short, I get it!" What was _that_ supposed to mean? Had he just been expecting that humans would be shorter, or something?

I couldn't develop my thoughts much farther, because at that moment, another flash, a glimmer of something horrible, came into my mind. I set down the book immediately and sat up, trying to focus on the physical world around me. It wasn't working.

_A prison cell—Vortian guards—red, red, everything red around me..._

Unable to stop myself I cried out, holding my head, wanting to be rid of these images of death and decay. Again the recurring image flashed into my mind, remaining longer this time. The body lying dead. I _was_ the one holding the blade! It shone like daylight though only darkness surrounded me. But how was that me? My mind showed a symbol—which I forgot again straight away.

"No!" I shouted, gripping my hair firmly, trying to shock myself away from those haunting images with a short instant of pain. "I don't want to remember," I stated firmly to no one.

There was a light knock at my door. I gasped, the images then leaving me in peace.

"Zim?"

It was Gaz. Her voice was light, but there was determination in her tone nonetheless.

"You can come in," I told her. Slowly the door swung open and Gaz stepped into my room. She must have been awake for a while; her hair had been done up again, and she was fully dressed, though without shoes.

Nothing she wore had even the slightest hint of being unattractive. As always, in a skirt, as always, wearing complimentary jewellery. This time, I noticed, she was wearing rings. My heart skipped, wondering if one of them was the ring I'd had made for her, wondering if she'd finally read that horribly embarrassing note I'd written, trying to put my thoughts on paper.

"Dib says he told you not to see anyone yet," she said, closing the door behind her and leaning against it, hands behind her back.

"He showered that quickly?" I wondered. Why would anyone want to enjoy something like that for less than half an hour at the very least?

"He's like that," Gaz shrugged. "Lex and her father also told me they saw you. You already knew Professor Haynsworth, right?" I nodded. "Okay. Um... well, he and Lex, and a couple others you don't know yet live in this building, so they're the only ones here right now, and Dib's out there talking to them about... well... you. Dib will let you know the rules of living here and stuff during breakfast, then we'll show you the compound. Dib wants more explanations on your part first though."

"I thought as much," I grumbled, nervously running a hand through my hair.

Gaz laughed. "You still do that," she noticed.

"Nervous habit," I admitted. "You noticed, huh?"

"You used to do it a lot."

I grinned and bent over onto my knees, staying as relaxed as possible, knowing full well how much pressure was going to be put on me for the next few days. Gaz remained silent for a minute. She was trying to keep things as natural between us as possible for the sake of her brother's rage I could tell, so to honor that I struck up a normal enough conversation.

"How have you been?" I asked her. Nice. Nice and stupid. Hadn't I just spoken to her the night before? I couldn't come up with anything better than that?

"Truthfully or otherwise?"

"Truthfully."

"Horrible."

My heart sank. "Wh-what's wrong?" I asked her.

"Ever since Dib became the leader of this Corporation, things have been going from bad to worse," Gaz sighed. "We left home a while ago, and Dad hasn't even _tried_ to contact us yet, because he claims to hate this place, but..." She paused for a moment, then finished slowly, "Dad _created_ this place, this organization. Dad used to study the paranormal, and he never told us. He's hated it since Mom left, and now he probably hates us too."

"I'm sorry," I apologized, "I made you bring up a touchy subject..."

Gaz shook her head. "You'd have found out soon enough anyway. Besides, other than stuff like that I've been... okay. Getting better. You?"

"Well, honestly, it's been horrible on my end, too," I admitted with a nervous laugh. "I did something awful, because I was confused. Nothing made sense anymore when I went back to being Irken. The last three years, I've been trying to find myself, and when I suddenly turned human again, everything just seemed to make more sense. The Irkens don't want me, that's for sure, but it seems like they don't want me to be human either. It's strange. But at least like this they can't control me, and I can choose life for myself."

"You didn't like being Irken?" Gaz asked me with hope in her voice.

"I did before I became human the first time, but after that long week, I just didn't belong," I explained. "I tried so hard to fit in with them, but I have a conscience now, and that doesn't have a place in an Irken body." I smiled. "I'm glad I can see the world through these eyes again."

Gaz cleared her throat and blushed red, then asked, "Is it really different? The way you actually physically see things, I mean."

"Everything just _looks_ nicer through human eyes," I told her smoothly. "Colors blend together more evenly, and nothing looks too unsettling. Irken eyes are more like weapons themselves, really, which is a disturbing thought now that I've been on both sides. Trust me, being human is much more pleasant."

"So you really do like it?" Gaz smiled. "You like being human?"

"I love it."

"Gaz, you're in there, aren't you?" It was her brother, who followed the question with a light knock.

Gaz rolled her eyes. "Yes," she answered him.

"Then I'm coming in."

As Dib entered, Gaz stepped away from the door, but kept her distance from me. For the first time since I'd arrived, I felt truly angry. Not even when I was arguing with Dib the night before was I as put off as I was at this point. Had he become that demanding of her? Did he frighten her that much? Just hours ago, Gaz and I had held one another, but now there was an awkward space between us.

Dib leaned casually on the open door, one hand gripping the top of it, the other pocketed. He hardly looked like the leader of an entire organization, dressed informally in just jeans and a loose shirt. His presence was intimidating enough, though. He glared over at me and scowled a bit.

"It was with reluctance that I allowed you to stay," he said to me, "and I expect you to hold up your end of the deal."

"I'll be glad to," I told him honestly.

"Before we go out there, Zim, there's a few things I need to talk to you about," Dib continued, pushing away from the door. "Gaz, wait for us in the kitchen."

"If there's something you need to say in front of Zim, you can say it in front of me," Gaz snarled at her brother, clenching her hands into fists.

"Wait for us in the kitchen, Gaz."

Reluctantly, Gaz tossed her hair and left, not making eye contact with Dib as she did so. When she was gone, Dib sighed and lightly ground his knuckles against the side of his head with one hand. "Dammit," he muttered. Looking back over at me, he folded his arms and straightened. "Stand up," he ordered.

I did as he asked, stepping away from the bed a little. He looked me up and down skeptically, his eyes glowing almost red in the sunlight. "Well, it's pretty obvious that's not a hologram," he determined aloud, "but it's going to take a while for me to even think about fully trusting you, Zim."

"I'm aware of that."

"Good. Then you should also be aware that I want you to keep your distance from my sister until I've seen how serious you are about wanting to help us."

"What?" I couldn't help myself from exclaiming. "Dib, I—"

In one swift motion, he was upon me, grabbing me by the collar and pulling me down so that he had a couple of inches on me. He snarled and said, "I get that you love her, okay? I just can't accept that right now! Gaz is all I have left, and I'm not going to lose her; not to you!"

"But, Dib, I've changed—"

"So you claim," he barked. "Back during the Incident, I began to trust you, but all that faded when you told me you'd joined forces with Tak. What's this about her becoming the Tallest?"

"Look, it wasn't my fault!" I insisted, pushing him away from me and straightening again, brushing down my shirt. "You wouldn't _believe_ what I've been going through these past few years. I was _miserable_ when I went back to being Irken; if it had been otherwise, I'd never have let Tak persuade me to do anyth—"

"Oh, you think _you've_ had it rough?" Dib snapped. "I just found out that my mother is a—" He shut his mouth. For a second, he almost looked scared, but I didn't leap on the opportunity to gain the upper hand. Because anything regarding his mother—the unspoken entity in their home—must have had something to do with why Gaz seemed she had something to hide, too.

"Is what?" I wondered, trying my best not to sound frantic or demanding.

Dib corrected his stance and cleared his throat. I got it. He was trying to project some kind of leader image... and he did look different, even if he was only—what had Gaz told me?—fourteen. "A—alive," he decided on saying, his tone quieting down. "I found out that my mother is still alive."

"But shouldn't that be—"

"Come out into the kitchen," Dib interrupted, changing the subject. "I have a few more Tak questions to ask you in my office later, but right now we need to clear your name among the Professor and the girls."

As I followed him out to the kitchen area, I thought about mentioning something to him about Professor Haynsworth—how I'd already met him, and was glad _some_one around here had already seemed to accept that I was here for honest reasons—but the walk was so short I didn't get a chance.

The kitchen was connected to the sitting room; it was fairly small, but the counter had plenty of seats, and there was a coffee table in the next room anyway. Lex was frantically getting plates out of a cabinet near the sink on the back wall, and the delightful smell of whatever she'd made for breakfast filled the room. Her father seemed much calmer; he had a mug of tea in his hands, but wasn't drinking it. Gaz was leaning against the counter, talking to Tenn (it took me a good five seconds to remember that it was her) and two others: a girl with a small frame and stark hair, and a woman closer to Victor Haynsworth's age, dressed just as professionally, but taking some liberties with her blue hair and eccentric accessories.

"It's _weird,"_ Tenn was saying as we approached. "It's weird, it's just... I don't get it! There's just no _way."_

"Well, I mean, you already met him, right?" Gaz offered.

"Doesn't make it any less weird," Tenn muttered.

"All right!" Dib began, walking with powerful strides toward the back of the room. I stayed my distance. "How we're going to explain this to the rest of the Corporation is something I'm still working on, but for right now it's probably a good thing that it's just us."

"Right!" Lex huffed, splaying her hands out in front of her as she set a stack of plates down on the counter between her father and Gaz. She stared Dib down and said, flustered, "I am _never_ going to be able to understand you. First you go on and on about how dangerous this... _Zim_ is, and now you're letting him into the Corporation?"

"Oh, my God," Dib said quickly, massaging the area between his eyes, "can we _please_ not all start yelling about this? Look," he added, fixing his glasses and standing up straight, "this wasn't part of my plan for this place at all, but Lex, your father made a good point: we all trust Tenn, and having more Irkens on our side _will,_ in the long run, be beneficial." My heart skipped. He was still roping me in with the Irkens. I mean, of _course_ he was, I was sort of the reason he knew about them at all, but it still set me off knowing that I'd be identified as one, even now that I was hoping to remain human for good.

"So... here," Dib finally relented. He walked toward the kitchen and thrust a hand out toward me. "I present to you..." he forced out a frustrated sigh and continued, "the newest _trial_ member of the Swollen Eyeball Corporation. I need tea."

He disappeared behind the others at the counter, accepting a mug that Lex passed to him for the tea he'd mentioned, and I was left alone with six sets of eyes on me. Gaz's stood out among the others—the only one with brown eyes. Tenn's, inhumanly blue, scrutinized me before I even spoke. This was going to be just great.

"Um... hi," I said. "So, I guess everyone kinda knows a little about me already, huh?"

"Yeah," said Lex, who, I noticed, had moved closer to her father, possibly for protection. "You're the Irken that _started_ this whole silly battle, aren't you?"

"I wouldn't say I _started_ it..." I tried, running a hand nervously through my hair as I tried to figure out what the hell to say to this group.

"I would!" Dib piped up from behind the others.

"Nobody asked you," I barked back, "and I'm trying to explain myself!"

"Then go _to,"_ he mocked me, coming around and leaning against the wooden column that held the otherwise island-like counter in place. He steeped a tea bag into his mug a couple of times and gave me a look that read, _This better be good._

"Okay," I sighed. "So... first off, my name is Zim. Not _Invader_ Zim. Just... just Zim. Okay? None of that Invader crap for me anymore. I've been wanting to cut myself off from the Empire for a while, and I was recently exiled, anyway, so it's not like any of that matters. What does matter," I went on, feeling stronger as I spoke out my thoughts, "is that I know more or less what the Irken attack plan is, so I know how to counter it. I know about the one person we need to prepare ourselves against, and I am going to fight with you, for Earth, in any way I can."

"And also, that's not a hologram," Tenn added with a sharp tongue. I glanced over at her. She was dressed very similarly to the way she'd been when we'd first crossed paths in town—a simple shirt and tight pants, with little variety from before, giving off the fact that she truly was projecting a solidified hologram herself.

"Right," I said. She was making me nervous, but I pressed on. "No, this isn't a hologram. I'm, um... more or less human, see?" I tugged at my thick hair to prove my point. "And I mean..." I noticed that the smaller girl I didn't recognize was staring at my arm, so I took that moment to point out, "I've got human vulnerabilities and everything, but I swear, I'm a good fighter, and I'd like to get better as long as I'm here."

Tenn raised up a hand, while glaring at me. "Permission to be the one to screen him," she asked. I felt my heart skip. I knew Tenn wanted to interrogate me, and I knew there was a chance I wasn't going to meet her approval, even though she had said, _"I knew you were better than that," _in reference to what I _had_ been doing, but a _lot_ of people had better morals than Tak.

"Granted," said Dib, and I saw the bastard smirk. Tenn must have really been on his good side, if he was trusting her judgment. Then again, even if she was Irken, she'd never sprung anything on Earth, as Tak and I had.

"Well," said Professor Haynsworth, after taking a sip of his own tea, "before any of that goes on, I'd like to be one to welcome you, Zim. You seem to do well in the throes of battle, and we can use every recruit we can find."

"Thank you," I said, glad to hear a few good words.

The woman with blue hair walked up to me and extended a hand, and when I shook it, I discovered that she had an awfully powerful grip, suggesting that this was her standard way of going about things. "I'll say it as well," she said. I could barely see her eyes behind her rose-tinted glasses. "My name is Charlotte Baudelaire, formerly Agent Tunaghost. I'm Dib Membrane's spokeswoman." Fuuuuuck. "It's a pleasure to have you on board." Did I hear subtext in that? Something along the lines of, _So don't betray us, or I 'll know._ Hooray. I sure loved being judged.

Charlotte then excused herself to take care of something elsewhere, and Dib let her know he'd be available soon. While they finished their brief business talk, the little girl leapt off her stool and walked up to me, extending a paper-white hand as well. "Hello!" she greeted blithely. I thought I'd crush her if I shook her hand, so I kept my grip light. When she retracted her hand, she added, "I never knew you, but I have hope that you will be an asset to this cause. My name is Nacea, and I am a Meekrob."

"Nice to meet you," I managed. I hadn't heard from the Meekrob race in a very long time, but I remembered Tenn mentioning something those two nights prior. That had been her mission—and then she'd never been heard from again, until now. Huh. Red would be _thrilled._ Someone else 'fraternizing with the enemy,' eh? Truth be told, I was glad it seemed that the Meekrob hadn't been wiped out. Their race was full of scholarly types the universe needed, rather than rebelling has-beens like the Vortians. "So, is this a hologram?" I wondered.

"It is a temporary form," Nacea corrected me. Her face then lit up with a small smile as she said, "I can tell that this human body of yours is quite strong, and you project honesty."

"Oh..." I fumbled out. "Thanks..." So of course I'd forgotten _that_ about the Meekrob: their insane ability to know energies, and form allies based on which energy suited their needs.

Nacea skipped back to her seat, and while I set my gaze in that direction, I saw that Gaz was looking a little flustered. Her roommate seemed on edge, and the two exchanged a slight glance just before Lex said, "All right! Breakfast is getting cold! I can't just stand here, I need to do something. Let's just _eat."_ As she began to set plates around, she then stopped, looked up, and gave me an awkward look. "Wait, so... are you like Tenn, then?" she wondered. "Like, can you eat our food or what?"

"No need to be so abrupt, dear," her father cautioned her.

"Whatever! I don't know about Irkens!"

"As I said, though," I assured her, taking a couple cautious steps closer to the counter (knowing that Dib and Tenn were watching my every move), "I'm mostly human. I actually really enjoy human food."

Gaz almost smiled. "You want something to eat, then?" she asked me. I couldn't even begin to describe how much I did. I'd been choking down those tablets for way too long, and putting up with Irken food for far longer. I was just about starving.

"Absolutely," I grinned.

"So you've eaten it before," Lex deduced on her own. Her father helped her set a couple dishes of food—one plate of assorted, cut-up fruits, and another a pie dish full of whatever that great smell had been—and Lex asked, "Have you ever tried quiche?"

"No," I told her kindly, "but I'm willing to try anything."

Lex swallowed back a laugh. "Good, then nobody here has, so you won't be able to tell if I went wrong anywhere."

"You're better at cooking than _I_ am," said Gaz. "A lot better."

"Gaz, you burn toast," her brother taunted her. He wedged himself on the other side of her, so that I was stuck on the other side of the counter next to Tenn.

"Everyone burns toast," said Lex, rolling her eyes as she cut up the quiche in the pie dish. "At least neither of you has ever mistaken salt for sugar as I have before."

There was a slight pause, and then Dib pointed out, "You're actually talking this morning."

"I'll shut up if you don't like it!" Lex snapped back. "I'm nervous! All this alien gibberish happening all at once, it's not my everyday!"

A bit more conversation happened around me—I picked up something about the Haynsworths being vampire experts—but once I had food in front of me, that was about it. I was so damn hungry almost nothing else mattered. was more than happy to finally be eating human food again. I had yet to try something I didn't like. A hush fell over the room while we ate, and for a moment my thoughts turned to my parents. I'd acquired parents during the incident three years before... did they still exist that way? Had my base changed again? How _did_ my parents exist organically anyway? Sure, I hadn't gotten along with them, but I was still being naïve at that point. _Maybe,_ I thought to myself, _when I become human, we'll be on better terms..._

"First thing, Zim," Dib said, drawing me out of my thoughts. He was eating a little, but it seemed as though he was doing so only because the rest of us were, not because he was at all hungry. He carried his plate over toward the sink counter, where he tapped a paper sheet that was taped to one of the cabinets. "Every morning we alternate making breakfast and sometimes dinner, depending on the events going on in the rest of the complex. This means you're gonna have to pull your weight too. Cleaning duties, as well."

"I'll do what I can," I assured him. I didn't care how meaningless the task was. As long as it meant I could stay, I'd do it. I'd learn how to—I don't know—shoe horses if it meant I'd get to stay human.

"We'll see," he said gruffly. "I'll put you down with Tenn for this week, and if I haven't kicked you out by Saturday, you'll have your own rotation, got it?" I nodded. Almost unconsciously I looked over at Gaz, who caught my gaze briefly, then blinked her eyes downward.

Dib, of course, noticed this, and sighed. He seemed to be going between being vehemently against Gaz and I starting up anything, and quietly accepting the fact that we might, and that it was out of his control. Those two seemed very close, as brother and sister; I certainly didn't want to ruin their family, but at the same time I really didn't want to just back off. I was going to fight for Gaz in whatever way I could. I just had to prove myself right for her. It was kind of exciting, thinking about it that way. And what better way to prove _that_ than by take the steps to earn a soul?

"Okay," Dib groaned, abandoning his food and reapproaching the counter, "I'm going to be _incredibly_ busy today, so, Gaz and Tenn, can I trust you to give Zim the tour of this place and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid?" He said those last few words forcefully, glaring straight at me.

"Yeah," said Gaz quietly.

"Gladly," Tenn added, her tone just as sharp and snarky as it had been when she'd asked Dib if she could be the one to 'screen' me.

"May I be of assistance to you, Dib?" the little Meekrob girl asked, perking up.

"Uh..." Dib started, looking almost flustered, "sure, maybe if you could work with Bloodrose or someone who can write up your descriptions of the Resisty autopsies, that'd be great. Just give details as accurately as you can, based on how well you know the races."

"Of course!" she sang, eager to help.

"Anything I can do?" Gaz's roommate, Lex, wondered.

Dib seemed a little thrown, and asked her skeptically, "You're offering?" Lex shrugged, and the two exchanged an awkward look. Since Lex had helped Gaz stock up my room, I'd pegged her to be as helpful and giving a person as her father seemed to be, but Dib seemed to think differently. Apparently Dib was just one of those people who didn't get along with anyone. Given his childhood, though, I sort of couldn't blame him. And the fact that I sympathized with him at all made it even more obvious that I had a human conscience in control. "Um..." Dib decided, "well, come with me, and I bet Charlotte can find a task for you, yeah."

As he was leaving, he pulled me to the side and said almost inaudibly, "If you really convince me that I can trust you, I'll ease up on you and my sister." With that, he walked to the door to pull on his shoes, and left.

I sighed and leaned against the counter again. Once again, all eyes were on me. "Hey, um, just to repeat it," I said, trying not to sound annoyed, "I'd really appreciate it if you didn't treat me like an Irken out of his element. If it's not too much to ask, I'd like you to treat me like just another human, really, since that's what I'm currently aiming for anyway."

"Man, do I have questions for you," said Tenn, as I should have expected. "Like, what this whole human obsession is all about..."

"It's what I want, Tenn," I said firmly. "Nothing is going to change my mind."

She hesitated for a moment, then tapped a hand on the counter and said, "I guess it's for the best, for you, anyway. You do look awfully at home in that body."

I had to laugh. "Then it's settled. As far as anyone's concerned, I'm human."

Tenn looked away, making no further comments.

– – –

The tour of the complex grounds began not long after breakfast. I'd helped to clean up, just to prove to everyone that I was completely serious about just being part of the group, then followed Gaz outside. Tenn walked along beside us, and immediately pointed out the fact that I'd be signed up for the Corporation's army. She warned me a little about the army commander, saying he was nothing compared to her old Commander back when she was part of the Elite (I never understood why she'd been demoted), but still a hardass.

Gaz, I noticed, was trying to act as normal as possible, probably because Tenn was around. But possibly also because of whatever secrets were going on between her and her brother. Something to do with Dib not fully trusting me, obviously, but now I'd caught onto something else—about their mother. I knew, of course, that their father, Professor Membrane, had once been a Professor of paranormal studies himself... and, as their mother had never really been mentioned, I had to assume there was some kind of paranormal tragedy behind that. But I didn't pry. She'd tell me when she was ready. I didn't place myself away from blame for her silence, though. I hadn't really behaved as well as I could have recently, what with going along with Tak on her ideas and whatnot. I deeply regretted everything I'd done, now. Everything I could remember, I regretted.

It was a nice day, and I enjoyed the tour, getting a feel for the full perimeter of the place. There were other members around, working on setting up a barrier around the complex, to stall any future advances from the Resisty (and, oh, other invading alien forces), which got me even more nervous about the Tallest, but I decided not to mention them quite yet. The sky was clear, as well, suggesting that the fires from the Resisty crash had been squelched, and that Membrane was most likely at work cleaning things up in the town. The Corporation grounds had been cleaned of bodies, as well, and it hadn't seemed like there were any human fatalities, which was a good thing. I thought again about the reporter I'd saved, and made a note to look up her information later (as in, once Dib _did_ trust me), so that at least someone could spread serious word about the real threat that Tak would be posing soon enough.

I did, though, try to just enjoy being out on a walk with Gaz again, even though it kind of felt like Tenn was along as a chaperone. I wouldn't have put it past her, either, to whack either of us for making a move or saying something even slightly flirtatious. But she didn't. She just watched. So I walked beside Gaz, and eventually attempted conversation.

"Your brother seems kinda... different," I pointed out as we walked, thinking back on breakfast.

"How so?" Gaz wondered. Even she seemed on edge about something.

"I don't know... like he's more stressed or something."

Gaz sighed, breathing out with her entire body; her pretty, narrow shoulders dropped, and she hung her head. Even she looked drained, exhausted, overstimulated, overworked. "We all are," she confided in me, "but Dib especially. He took over here last year, when he turned thirteen, and he's been working like crazy ever since. Dad isn't talking to us anymore, not like he ever _did,_ but now it's tougher, cuz—sorry. I'm ranting. Things're just... weird right now."

"Yeah..." I trailed off, and looked down at her. Three years. I had three years to make up to her. And I'd try, even if it took me another three. Even if she didn't really love me back. Yet, anyway. First thing was first, though: get that girl to smile. "I guess I've kind of made things worse, eh?" I said, keeping my mood light. "When I got here, he looked ready to rip me apart."

Gaz cracked a grin and almost laughed. Her light brown eyes shifted up to look at me, and I responded with a simple smile of my own. A light pink then flushed her cheeks, and she looked away again. She opened her mouth to speak, shut it again, then shook her head in favor of saying something else. "Hey, um..." she began nervously, "Dib and I are... well... we've got it kinda hard right now." So she kept saying. Were things really so bad..? And how much was my fault? As in, _really_ my fault? "So, really, the best thing you can do is be nice to him. Okay? He's working his mind around if he should still treat you like a threat or not, so the more you can just prove you're on our side, the more he'll come around to trust you."

Before I could respond, Gaz—in an almost strange turn of events and emotions—grabbed my hand and clenched it tightly. She still wasn't looking at me, but I could work with this for now. She wanted me there... at least it seemed like she did. That much was enough. "Can you do that?" she requested.

"Hm?"

"Can you just not provoke Dib?"

"So don't do anything stupid," I translated.

"If you can help it."

I grinned. "Sure." I hoped that the subtext I culled from her words wasn't just in my head, since I was reading this as her way of telling me what _she_ needed. It was sweet, I thought, how protective Gaz was of her older brother. I took the hint: treat him well, and she'd be happy. And truth be told... I really didn't want to piss Dib off. In fact, he was probably second or third on my list of people to never piss off (again). (First and floating second, of course, being Tak and Red.)

When the tour finally brought us around to the training center and, as Tenn called it, _dojo,_ Gaz expressed an embarrassed need to excuse herself to the restroom, which was apparently far into the bowels of the training center, so I agreed to wait with Tenn, who, in turn, agreed to give me the basics of the interior.

After Tenn had pointed out the various ins and outs of the _dojo_, she wandered to the main entrance and sat on the stone steps, looking down at her feet. Concerned, I approached her, and sat a few feet away, on the opposite side of the steps. I had known Tenn during my academy years on Devastis, and, though Irkens did not consider 'friendship' to be of any importance, we were as close to friends as any Irkens got. Tenn and Skutch, both Invaders now, were the only ones I remembered trusting back during my days at the academy, but now that I looked back on that time, it seemed that the two were holding back a powerful secret. They must have known about my past. Just as the Tallest did... just as Tak did.

"What's up?" I asked Tenn, trying to keep the mood light.

She glanced over at me, her false blue eyes studying my features, then looked away. "You're not the Zim I know," she said bluntly. "Everything about you is different."

I sighed. "I told you, Tenn, I changed," I repeated for her. "Listen, I like being human. This is who I am now... or, who I want to be."

"Okay," said Tenn, fed up. "Spill it. Why're you here?"

"Because," I began slowly, "I hate the Empire and I want to be human. I told you."

Tenn wasn't having it. "Right," she said blankly. "Why?"

Her approach was so... _Irken,_ I couldn't help but give in and lash out. "Personal reasons!" I decided on saying. "What about you, why'd _you_ really come?"

"We're not talking about me, are we?" she snapped. "We're talking about you."

"Okay! So—"

"You were with Tak," Tenn pointed out bluntly.

"Yes," I confessed, "that's true, but..."

"And now you're here. And you're _really_ friendly with Gaz."

"Yeah," I said. She was making me a little angry, now. "Is that a problem?"

Tenn was silent for a moment, then stood abruptly, hauled me up by the front of my shirt, tossed me to the center of the _dojo, _and came at me. I managed to block her first jab, but was too stunned to dodge the second. She thrust her elbow into my ribs, which got me to choke, but I grabbed her around the neck—at apparently the wrong angle, since the next thing she did was place her left hand on my arm, and reach her right arm around to grab the back of my neck. "I could flip you right now," she warned.

"I'm fully aware of that," I said.

So she did.

She bent at her knees, hauled me up over her head, and slammed me into the ground. Which hurt more than it would have if I'd been anticipating fighting that day... and also if I hadn't had those Resisty claw marks on my back. I shifted uncomfortably, but primarily set my focus on regaining my breath as Tenn walked around and sat cross-legged next to me.

"So... you're mad at me," I guessed.

"I'm just trying to figure you out," she corrected. "I know why you keep changing directions all over the place, I just wish I could tell which one was real."

"Eh?"

"You've tried a lot of things to please the Tallest in the past, Zim," Tenn reminded me. "Are you doing this for them or for you?"

"For me!" I practically shouted. "I told you, I hate the Empire. I want to be human."

"Because?"

"Because I'm in love with Gaz, all right?" I shut my mouth and sat up. Taking a look around, I was able to see that nobody else was around, which was a good thing, but still... now Tenn knew. "I mean," I amended, "that and, I really enjoy the way I feel, like this. And I really like Earth. I wish I could convince you that I do."

Tenn fell into another moment of silence, then said, "The way you were just fighting was really human. I can tell. So, just a guess, but you don't remember much, do you?"

I groaned. "People keep asking me that," I told her. "It's annoying. But no, not really."

"Now, you said you're _mostly_ human," she added. "What's that mean?"

"It means my PAK is still inside me," I explained slowly, since I hated thinking about it. "It's going through some kind of repair cycle, but at least my body's human. My mind, too. It's a soul I need."

"You're gonna try to get one?"

"As best I can."

"Huh."

At that point, Gaz returned, so any further actual grilling or screening from Tenn would have to wait. When we left the _dojo,_ Tenn gave me and Gaz more space, then eventually left, saying she was going to talk to the army's General about me, and that I should look into meeting him later.

I had no idea what to make of her reactions, but it was bothering me that my past was obviously coming into play, as far as any Irkens were concerned. The me I'd been... the one that had killed Miyuki... was gone, replaced several times over and now leaving only me as I was at the time—armed with a quarter of a human soul and determined to prove myself more. I took Gaz's hand again and let my thoughts go when a breeze came through the Corporation grounds.

Past be damned. The present was rather nice, and I had future aims.

Then again, with the core of the Resisty still to deal with and an Irken war still to fight, I couldn't say that the future didn't also terrify me, just a little...

– – –

– – –

**Author's Note:**

Hey guys! Two chapters are planned for today, but due to some timing stuff, I'm putting up this one prior to the 9:30 time, and don't quite know when the second will go up… probably around then or maybe somewhere near 10pm (but still this evening). :3

I'll have more of a comment/reflection once I post that one, just wanted to let you all know that there will be a second chapter today, and oh what a chapter it is! Aaaaah I'm really excited to get to it. See you **in a few hours!** XD

~Jizena~

– – –


	16. New Arrivals 2: Power Struggle

– – –

**Author's Note:**

_Invader Zim_ is -c- Jhonen Vasquez! Only the events of this story, characters specific to the story, and character tweaking (heh) are mine. :3

~Jizena~

– – –

_Gaz's Records_

As if Zim's arrival hadn't been enough of a surprise to last us all a while, another arrival of a certain pair of Irken exiles heralded a change in everything.

I was in the kitchen when I heard the knock, the morning after Zim had been officially welcomed in. I'd been scheduled to make breakfast and forgot (but nobody cared, since we all overslept), so I was discussing rotation with my brother as he slowly ate microwave oatmeal out of a tupperware container. At about that moment, I was pointing out just how ridiculous he looked, eating like that.

"What?" he said in his defense. "I have to eat in tupperware cuz I never know if I have to run off somewhere. This way, food keeps."

_"Oatmeal,_ Dib?" I snorted out a laugh.

"Oh, whatever." It was kind of nice, how easily things had been going since he'd come home from his training. It was still strange, of course, that he'd seemed to grow up so fast, but things like his choices of eating habits kept me hopeful that part of him was still a kid enough to keep him grounded. After all, Dib had so much going on, I was surprised he didn't really go crazy.

Also, we hadn't quite talked about it yet. Not in detail. His training, anyway. He'd told me enough, but he obviously didn't like talking about it. When I'd asked him to sum up the abilities he'd trained during that time, all he'd said was, "It hurts. That's all. It just hurts." There seemed to be details he still wasn't telling me, but I figured I'd find out when he was ready to tell me. For now, seeing him act normal at times was good enough.

Such as when the knock came. "See?" my brother said, tossing a hand toward the door. "It's always something!"

"I'll take the hint," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Gaz, I didn't—"

"I'm answering the _door,_ Dib."

He sighed and let me go, but I heard the click of the lid on his choice of tableware as I walked out to the hallway through the living area.I really, really did not want Dib overworking himself, but that was almost too much to ask. So I just focused on the now.

"Be right there," I called, trying not to sound surprised or bored, since in all honesty I did get bored doing menial tasks like cooking and door answering.

Before I opened the door, I heard voices coming from the other side. "Just let me do the talking," one was saying. The voice was male, but had a certain feminine glide to it.

"Why?" a second demanded. This voice was also male, and recognizably lower and more commanding.

"Because whenever you try to handle things like this, you screw it up horribly."

Wondering what on Earth the two could possibly have been talking about, I opened the door. Standing on the other side were two men, probably in their late twenties to mid-thirties, one much taller than me, the other closer to my height. They were turned towards each other, but as soon as I opened the door, the second one turned, his purple eyes widening when he saw me, as if I'd given him a shock, then softened again as he smiled.

"Hello," he said, long purple bangs brushing across the right side of his face, almost blocking that eye from view. "Is this the Swollen Eyeball Corporation compound?"

"Depends," I said, leaning against the doorframe. "What's your business coming to this building? And how'd you get past the guys at the perimeter?"

"We have particular business with a few people here," the man continued. "The guards were kind enough to let us through."

"We're returning this to someone who'd _better_ be here, because if he's not, we're leaving it here anyway," the other broke in, holding something out towards me.

It wasn't until this 'something' spoke that I realized what it was.

"What the—that's—" I began.

"Hi!" he exclaimed, waving. It was GIR.

"GIR?" I yelped. "You two, who are you? Why is GIR with you?"

Before they could answer, GIR leapt out of the man's hand, and past me, down the hall. I turned, and noticed that Zim was walking out of his room, drying his hair with a towel.

"What on—GIR?" he stammered, almost as surprised as I had been to see the little robot. GIR jumped up and latched himself around Zim's neck, giving him the same vocalized greeting he'd given me. Zim laughed and pried GIR away to get a look at him, then, slinging the towel across one shoulder and letting GIR perch on the other, walked down the hall to where I was standing. "How'd he get here?" he asked me. I just nodded out the door. Zim looked in that direction, then yelped a bit. "You!" he said almost in a shout when he saw the two at the door.

"You're welcome?" the taller of the two men tried, folding his arms.

"Nice to see you, too," the shorter one said to Zim in a sarcastic tone. "Yes, we did fine at the hospital, thank you for asking. And how have you been holding up?"

"You're not funny."

"Zim, you know them?" I asked.

"Know them?" Suddenly his eyes softened, and, after he'd exchanged glances with the two at the door, he sighed and told me, "They're the Tallest."

It took a moment for the word to sink in, but then it startled me, and I took a wary step back. "You... y-you two are... the... _Tallest?"_ I repeated, feeling intimidated.

"Were," muttered the taller of the two.

"Oh, shut up, you still are," Zim snapped.

"I like Tallest!" GIR exclaimed happily.

"That's nice," Zim dismissed. "Allow me to introduce you, Gaz... these guys are really Red and Purple, leaders of the Irken Empire." Laughing, he added, "Guess which one's which."

I had to stifle my laughter, not wanting the Tallest to get angry with me. Now that I had really taken a good look at them, it was almost obvious who they were. Red's hair and eyes matched his name, as did Purple's (well, more or less, since most of his hair was black), and Red's height should have given it away. He was even taller than Zim, who was one of the tallest people I knew.

I was about to ask Purple why the two of them weren't the same height, but thought again, deciding that was a question for another time, and decided instead to introduce myself. "My name is Gaz," I said, extending a hand and hoping that they would understand the gesture.

Purple took my hand in his; his grip was light and firm at the same time, just as his countenance seemed to be. His words and actions made me feel uneasy for some reason. He acted almost as though he had everything taken care of; as though he knew all about Earth and our human customs. He was too nice to be a Tallest, I thought as our eyes met. How could someone like this be my enemy? A second glance, though, and I wanted to be far away from him. I can withstand a lot, I'm comfortable and prefer the darkness and all, but Purple's eyes terrified me. They looked like they should have been calm and soothing, based on the way he carried himself and spoke, but those eyes... sharp, and Irken, and full of some kind of hatred that he did not express otherwise.

When our hands parted, Red reluctantly repeated the action. His grip was much stronger, and he didn't smile, as Purple had been doing almost since the moment I opened the door. I noticed the glasses he was wearing for the first time (probably since I didn't like having to look up almost a foot to talk to him), and he seemed quite uncomfortable that he had to wear them. If Purple's eyes had creeped me out, Red's might've haunted me, had they not been dulled somewhat behind those rectangular frames. Red was a color I'd associated with the Irkens for a while, and standing there in front of me was most likely the reason for that. The stronger of the two Tallest; the pioneering force behind the Invasion that had first seen Zim to Earth. Red was one who obviously felt nothing for humans, or, if he did, it was slight and reluctant. Purple seemed quite tolerant of everything, and looked more than eager to blend in among us humans, but it clearly disgusted Red. Red was going to take some getting used to.

"So this is the result of Tak taking your power, huh?" I couldn't help asking. "You're human, too?" It sort of discouraged me that Zim now wasn't the only one. I'd been filled in on the fact that Tak had become the Tallest, through unjust means (naturally, given that it was her), and it pissed me off to think of her in charge. Apparently, my distaste for the matter was far outshadowed by that of the actual Tallest.

"Don't remind me," Red grumbled, standing back and once again folding his arms. He looked positively infuriated. And broken, of all things. A part of his life had been ripped away, and whether or not he had a conscience was beyond me, but he looked as though he was almost taking pity on himself and his partner by coming to us. He was reluctant, yes, but more than that he was confused. Irken auras are exceedingly easy to read. They wear their emotions, what little of them they have, on the outside.

That's how Zim has always been different.

Even when he was Irken, he read differently, I now realized. Zim has always been different, and I had a gut feeling that I would soon find out why. Even if he didn't know. There was a lot about Zim that I hadn't figured out yet... a lot about him that he was either hiding or didn't really know himself.

The Tallest, on the other hand, were different. Individually. Purple was already harder to read than Red. Red was clearly and utterly confused. Purple was holding his head up, even though he was in the same situation. He seemed more scared for Red than he was for himself. I wondered, even upon that first meeting, if there wasn't something... _going on_ between the two. A sort of relationship other than the obvious. At present, I told myself to put that aside. It wasn't important, next to why they were here, and what they wanted from us.

"Gaz!" I heard my brother shout from the kitchen. "What's going on out there?"

"Oh, um... there are a couple people here," I called back. "I'm gonna let them in so you can talk to them, okay?"

"Who's that?" Red demanded. "The one who just called out."

"My brother," I answered. "The Corporation leader."

Red actually reeled back, then let out a long, aggravated sigh and ground his knuckles into his forehead. "I hate this," he muttered. Purple unemotionally patted his partner's arm, his face displaying an almost, _Serves you right,_ kind of expression. "I hate it, first the damn hospital, now here—"

"Hate what?" Zim ventured to ask.

"Not being _in charge,"_ Red answered through his teeth, lowering his hand and glaring daggers at Zim, who in turn tried not to laugh.

"Well," Zim said instead, "I think being here is the best option for now, as far as being on the path that'll get you back there. I'm glad you got here safely."

I beckoned the two in, and Purple remarked as I showed them into the sitting room, "Safely, right... after that robot of yours led us round and round that city a couple times until he finally sat down in a parking lot and started screaming."

"How'd you _get here,_ then?" Zim wondered.

"Directions."

Zim and I both glared up at the taller of the two new arrivals. _"You asked someone for directions?"_ Zim asked in disbelief.

"No, Purple did."

"Aha."

Once in the sitting room, I saw that Dib was leaning back against the counter, readying himself for anything. Apparently, _the arrival of the real Irken Tallest_ was not one of those things he'd prepared for, as he pushed off from the counter and glared at the two. He'd admitted to me a few times that he knew what the Irken Tallest looked like, and obviously knew about them being easily identifiable by their namesake colors, so he caught on faster than I did.

"Um, what the hell?" he demanded as they entered.

"Dib," I warned, "this time, we're all just gonna _talk_ first, before you just start hollering."

"Are they who I think they are?" he shouted.

"I said, you'd better not just start hollering!"

Giving up on me and giving into his rage, Dib turned to block the Tallests' path, looking immediately put off at how damn tall Red was. "Before I let you in, answer me this," he growled. "Have I seen you before?" he asked them.

When faced with the question, Purple looked almost panicked, but Red's indifference helped him to calm down.

"You look familiar, too," said Red.

Dib studied them for a minute, then asked angrily, "You _are_ the Tallest, aren't you?"

"Well, aren't you a smart kid?" Red remarked, leaning down a little to look my brother directly in the eye.

"I'm not a _kid,_ and you're exceedingly rude," Dib commented. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"CAN WE JUST TALK?" I practically screamed. All eyes were then on me. I took in a deep breath and said sternly, "Dib, all you do is _shout_ at people. I _know_ this isn't the way you want to do things, but sometimes shit just happens! I think we should just talk to them and see what they want and be diplomatic about this because for fuck's sake, I don't want to piss off the Goddamn _IRKEN TALLEST."_

Silence fell over the entire room, and that included the overly vocal GIR. My brother seemed a bit impressed at my outburst, but I knew it had worked—Dib always caved to my assertive demands, knowing that threats (that I always would carry out) would follow. And if Dib looked impressed, Zim seemed even more so, and he gave me a slight sideways grin that made me flush. God, I wished my discomfort about this whole 'Miyuki is my mother' thing would be something I could come to terms with soon enough; I really did want to talk to Zim more... to get closer again, to confess I'd found that gift...

The Tallest exchanged a glance of their own, and the silence was broken when Red admitted, pointing over at me, "Right, I'm kind of okay with her." Man, was this guy one-dimensional. Red liked power. The end. Not much going on for him otherwise... though I had a feeling he was possibly a little more multifaceted than that. He just really wore that one aspect not only on the outside, but with intense pride.

Dib once again conceded to one of my demands, and allowed the Tallest to take a seat on the sofa. My brother sat in the chair opposite them, and I chose to watch the whole thing from one of the counter stools; Zim opted to just sit on the floor a couple feet in front of me, between Dib and the Tallest. I was watching... Zim seemed to be monitoring. And also keeping GIR under control as best he could.

"So you've come to us as well?" Dib asked the Tallest, staring them down.

Purple cast a glance at Red, warning his partner not to answer, and replied, "It was our safest option. We're under the threat of Tak's new army just as you are."

"From what we've heard," Red added, causing Purple to sigh initially, then agree as he continued speaking, "she's bringing the Elite back. I don't know how much you humans know about the Irken Elite—" and here he cast a warning glance at Zim, as though to say that he better not have mentioned anything, as though it were treason— "but during some of the old reigns, the Elite has been very powerful. The strongest army in the known galaxies. The Elite broke up after Miyuki died, and only a few survived. Tak is trying to bring them back, without a Commander, which can only mean disaster."

What he'd said had made sense, and yet one part confused me. Did the Irkens really all believe that Miyuki was dead? When Red had said that, Zim had cringed a little. He had told me, once, that he had been responsible for Miyuki's death. He'd sounded very attached to Miyuki, my mother, and had even compared me to her, but since he'd come back he hadn't mentioned her at all. Perhaps it was too painful a memory... or Tak really had made him forget, during the Incident. I couldn't say I wasn't grateful—I might give myself away otherwise.

"Tenn has told me a little," Dib said firmly, "but it's nothing you should be worried about."

"Invader Tenn?" Red wondered. "She's here as well?"

"I met her on Meekrob," my brother answered without skipping a beat. "That planet is Earth's ally in this war now. No matter what your purpose is for coming here, you two, you are still enemies of this planet. Zim was... _kind_ enough," he spat, as though not wanting to give his old enemy the benefit of the doubt, "to tell me about the war, and that, I assume, means that you supported it, since you sent him on his mission in the first place."

"Actually, that was—" Purple began.

"A lie," Zim completed, staring up at the Tallest. Purple looked hurt, and cast his gaze down and away from Zim. He sighed painfully and brushed his right hand through his hair, smoothing it back and out of his face a little. Maybe I was being silly in overanalyzing the Tallest, but the fluidity of that action seemed very proper and practiced—with some admitted offense to the Irken race, I hadn't exactly imagined their leaders being as graceful as that.

"Which we apologize for," the shorter of the Tallest whispered, folding his hands in his lap in an almost professional manner. He was technically royalty after all, but again... really? Were the leaders really that much more put together than civilian Irkens? Then again, I only knew a few Irkens, and Tenn was a beyond functional member of society; I guess I still just based things on Zim's ineptitude as an Invader. Being human suited him so much more nicely.

But thinking of the Tallest as royalty made me realize: _Well, shit,_ _that means I am, too._ Assuming having, oh, a Tallest for a mother meant something along those lines. Shit.

"No," Red interrupted his partner sharply. "Everything we've done was for a reason. Let's not dwell on that right now. We're here to ask a question right now, remember?" When the other didn't answer, Red got pretty upset. "Purple," he hissed, putting as much emphasis on the second Tallest's name as he could.

"Right, of course," Purple sighed.

"A question?" I wondered, before my brother could say anything cruel. "Do you want to stay with us, like Zim and Tenn?"

"If it's not too inconvenient," said Purple, looking up again.

"Absolutely not!" Dib snapped, rising, his almost red eyes aflame. "You are our enemies on more than one level. You are a threat to my planet and my organization, and I will not have you compromising the safety of those who have put their trust in me to keep them from harm!"

I was now seeing, for the first time, my brother's power as the leader of the organization. I'd never been to a press conference (because I hated them) or been to a Board meeting (because I hated them) when my brother was around, and when I'd been forced to lead the Corporation for a week, my troubles were so much different, and I hadn't known where to begin. Dib was different. He had the power of presence, just like our father. Since his rise to the position, Dib was becoming more and more respected by the senior and new members alike, not to mention the outside world. I'd even overheard others talking about how his dignified leadership had caused him already to rise to being one of the most respected figures of our time. And he was only fourteen.

"I'm offering you a deal," Red said reluctantly, almost growling, rising as well. He wasn't about to be outdone, I could tell. He'd admitted hating not being in charge; I could already foresee some butting heads between him and my brother. "If you allow us refuge here, we will share with you the various secrets of how our Empire is run, in order for you to most skillfully take down Tak."

"And we will offer our hands in battle, until restored to the way we're both meant to be," Purple added.

"Right. What he said," Red agreed. "Do we have a deal?"

Dib took a step toward him and considered his words for a moment, then said, "I don't make deals with the untrustworthy. I've no guarantee that you will keep to your word. Besides, if Tak is after you, you could be putting my Corporation at risk if she finds you here."

"There's a bigger bounty on Invader Zim's head than there is on ours!" Red barked, finally snapping. "As far as the rest of the Empire knows, we might be dead!"

Zim rose, and GIR squealed a bit and ran behind the sofa. For some reason. "Red," Zim said angrily, his hands clenching into fists, "I thought I told you not to call me that anymore."

"I'm your Tallest!" Red returned. "What, would you rather I call you by your o—"

"That's enough," Purple said calmly. All activity ceased as he stood and approached Dib. "I give you my word," he told him regally, "and pledge on my honor that we will not betray you. Besides," he added in a softer voice, "we can help you. We know what you're going through." Dib's eyes widened, and at last he considered what the Tallest had to offer. It hit me, too. They knew Miyuki wasn't dead. They knew that we were her children. And at least one of them wanted to help us. It seemed for Zim's sake they were keeping that part quiet, however, and that had me a little worried. Holding out his right hand, Purple asked strongly, "Do we have a deal?"

Dib looked from one Tallest to the other, over at me and Zim, then back at the two newcomers. Taking a deep breath, he said, "If you so much as think about going back on your word, I will know, and I will take action."

"Understood," Purple nodded, keeping his hand extended. "So..?"

My brother hesitated, then, gathering his pride, he clasped Purple's hand in his own, firmly, and said, "All right. We'll offer you a place to stay in return for your services." He let go and looked back at the two of us closer to the kitchen and said, "Zim, show the Tallest the room directly next to yours. That's where they'll be staying. And if you three so much as speak of continued loyalties to the Empire, I won't be forgiving. Gaz, let the Professor know. I'm going to find Charlotte and an aspirin."

That said, he headed toward the hall I slept in, for the closest door to the main hall. As he left, I heard him mutter, "Fucking Irkens and their..." and then he was out of earshot.

Hoping to make a bit of a better impression, I stood and walked over to the Tallest. "My brother has the right to be cautious," I said, "but as long as you've been welcomed, I should welcome you again myself. I'm not nearly as busy as him, so if you need anything, you can talk to me. I'm in this hall over here."

"We'll consider that, Gaz, thank you," Purple smiled. For a second, I'd forgotten that I'd given them my name, and was creeped out again when he said it so easily.

"So," Zim said, "I get that it's early, but I guess I'll show you guys that room. Dib's kind of a prick, no offense, Gaz, so if I don't do what he told me he'll probably shoot my head clean off."

"That's bad!" GIR cried. He'd now climbed to the top of the sofa and was doing a dance or something on it. He was balancing on one hand, so I couldn't tell. If GIR were human, he'd probably be pretty damn acrobatic. That and very, very ADHD. Actually, that's a creepy thought. Next subject.

"I didn't mean it, GIR," Zim grinned. "Thanks for bringing him back, by the way. Oh, and how _did_ things go at the—"

"Who have we here?" I turned to see who had spoken, though the accent had given it away. Professor Haynsworth had entered the room, with Lex close to him. She was blushing a little at the sight of Red. We'd had a stupid conversation once, during which she'd told me she liked older, taller guys. Red sure fit that description. Of course, he was probably several hundred years older, or at least decades, but as a human he looked to be around thirty-five.

"Oh, these two?" I said, knowing I was supposed to let the Professor in on it but forgetting myself for a second nonetheless. "They're—"

"The Irken Tallest," Red finished. Lex went redder, probably embarrassed that she'd considered thinking of him in a different way. "My name is Red."

"I see," the Professor said, in his usual, understanding way. "In the same predicament as Zim, then?"

Red nodded a little reluctantly, but remained firm. The Professor's eyes then fell on Purple, and he drew in a surprised breath. "And you're—?" he began.

"A Tallest as well," Purple finished smoothly, smiling a bit, almost sadly. "I might not look it because of my height, but I rule alongside this one. I'm Tallest Purple."

"Purple?" the Professor wondered, taking a couple steps into the room. "That's your name?"

"Is there a problem?" Purple returned.

"I... well, forgive me, but..." Now this was new. Professor Haynsworth always knew exactly what to say. He was never at a loss for words. What the hell?

"I said," the shorter of the newcomers repeated, making damn sure to catch the Professor's calm green eyes with his sharp, dealbreaking purple ones, "is there a _problem?"_

The Professor shook his head. "No," he said, trying to regain his calm, "there's no problem. You just, sort of... looked familiar, for a moment."

"You must be confused," said Purple, sounding a little stronger, more like Red. "You humans all look the same," he added huffily, putting his hands in his pockets and straightening, trying to make himself look a little taller. He did succeed in making himself look even more regal. "I'm embarrassed for you that you would so quickly confuse a leader of the great Irken Empire with one of your own. Come on, Red. Zim, do as you've been instructed. I wish to have a word with you, as well."

Zim, though looking confused, agreed and asked the Tallest to follow him into the other hall. As they passed by Lex and her father, I heard the Professor say, "I do apologize. Though you do remind me of another, it's clear to me that you're far different. If you two need anything, I reside on this same hall."

Purple snorted and continued walking, and Red just nodded sternly. Yep, all Irkens are haughty, all right. Tenn had proven that, not to mention Tak, but the Tallest were pretty bad, too. My first impressions of Purple, I decided, had been wrong. He was more like Red than I'd thought. Still, he had seemed to be more comfortable being kind than being stubborn.

"Are they seriously the Irken leaders?" Lex asked me, rushing up to me when the others had left. Her eyes fell on GIR. "And what on God's great Earth is that?"

"Hi!" GIR greeted.

"That's, um... Zim's help robot," I decided on. "He's called GIR, and he's not really much help at all. Which reminds me, we should keep our door closed from now on. And yes, those two really are the Tallest."

"A trick of that Tallest Tak?" the Professor wondered, walking in as well.

"Uh-huh," I said. He looked downtrodden, which, again, was something new for him. "You okay, Professor?" I wondered.

"Oh, I'll be all right, Gaz," he smiled. "I'm a bit confused, is all."

"Because of Purple?" I guessed. He nodded. "Who, um... who'd he remind you of?"

"Just an old friend of mine," the Professor answered. "Someone who... died, quite some time ago. Only one similarity has me thinking of that person all over again. That could just be another cruel trick of Tak's. My apologies."

"No need to apologize," I said. But I couldn't help but wonder what exactly about Purple had the Professor thinking of someone he'd known. Perhaps Red also looked like someone who had passed on, I thought. In which case, what was Tak up to? And what of Zim's human appearance? Did he resemble anyone from the past as well? Were holograms and temporary forms all based on the dead?

"By the way," Lex said, pulling me to the side, "I heard your brother from down the hall. He sure knows how to make a deal, don't you agree?"

"Dib? Yeah, he's good at that," I agreed.

"Not just that, I mean..." We started walking back toward our hall, after Lex gave her father a wave, and he retired quietly to his study. "I never thought I'd be saying this about that Dib at all," Lex admitted, "but he has an incredibly powerful voice."

I grinned a little. "Where's this coming from?" I wondered.

"Hm?"

"You complimenting my brother," I taunted.

Flushing, Lex covered, "Complimenting, nothing! I was making an observation."

"You like him."

"I do not!"

"Want me to set you up?" I laughed.

"He's just a kid, are you kidding me? I don't like him at all!" Lex said frantically. "What's got into you?"

"Just saying," I shrugged.

"Yes," said Lex, "and I was _just saying_ that he seems more commanding now he's back. Now he's, you know, trained with your mother and all."

"So are you still angry at him for... whatever you were angry at him for?" I guessed.

"Oh, I don't know," Lex said, heaving a sigh. "I've been angry at a lot of people for a lot of different reasons since I broke it off with Jonathan. Now I know the real alien threat, though, I can't say I can be so angry about any of that anymore."

Wasn't that the truth. Then again... Lex didn't know _Tak_ yet. Tak sure as hell made me angry—time would tell as far as my roommate's outlook once the real Invasion started.

I couldn't say I didn't shake the idea of Lex possibly having a thing for my brother. I mean, I knew Nacea did, but there was this thing about Nacea and it was that I still didn't really like her. Still, whoever it was, I couldn't deny that part of me did sort of want to see Dib start taking an interest in someone himself. He sure wasn't headed that way, since he was so uptight, but a relationship could possibly relax him, tone him down, maybe make him stop snapping at Zim about everything. That last thought was probably stupid of me to wish for, but I hoped for it anyway.

– – –

Later that afternoon, I wound up back in the common room, having nothing else to do with my time but sit with a soda and read a random book I'd found in one of the various libraries in the building (seriously, there are bookshelves all over the place). Situated on the sofa, I was alone for a while, since Dib had meetings and Zim was off meeting General Brakem (gooooood luck, I kept thinking for him) and I didn't know where anyone else was, until I heard a door open and promptly slam. The slam was followed by Tallest Purple shouting something in a language I didn't understand, and all of a sudden I wasn't alone in the room.

I looked up and there stood Tallest Red, looking quite unimpressed. His eyes found me and he scowled. "What?" he demanded, his voice sharp and precise.

"Uh... nothing," I said, sitting up and setting my drink on the side table. I was still kind of in awe at the fact that this was the _Tallest_ I was speaking to, looking at. Silently, I bookmarked my page and set the book aside.

"Stop staring," Red commanded.

"Okay, whatever," I said, folding my arms and crossing my legs. "What was that all about?"

"What?"

"The slam and the shouting."

Red rolled his eyes and snorted. "My partner and I don't agree on everything," he said flatly, glaring back at the room he and Purple were now sharing. "D'you have Irken food in stock here? I'm starving."

"Um, not in this kitchen, but Tenn has some, I'm pretty sure," I told him, gesturing toward Tenn and Nacea's room. "We'll have dinner soon, though, if you can wait."

"I don't wait," said Red, straightening. "I'm the Tallest."

That got me angry. I stood and walked right up to him, forgetting how tall he was for a second (so my plan of staring him down kind of backfired on me right then and there). "Well you know what?" I challenged, glaring at him anyway. "I'm also kind of in charge here. So don't expect me to serve you, got it?" I spoke through clenched teeth, and had almost started a tirade about my mother, but held it back for personal reasons. The idea still chilled me. I couldn't stand the thought of being part Irken, being anything like this jerk I was talking to.

"Then get Tenn out here."

As if on cue, she came out of her room at that moment. I heard her music filtering out into the hall (Tenn had discovered an affinity for loud industrial and electronica music and had an impressive stereo on her side of the room, which I suppose gave her something to do while everyone else was sleeping), and within seconds she was standing not far behind me, carrying a pack of Irken soda in one hand and a nondescript (other than the Irken insignia) bag in the other.

"Hey, Gaz?" she said, walking into the kitchen, ignoring Red and the fact that he and I appeared to be arguing. "Can I stash some things in your fridge? Mine is acting up and until Nacea and I can fix it I've gotta keep this stuff cold. It can't get mixed up with your food."

"Yeah, go ahead," I offered, breaking away from Red, who glared at me as I leaned back against the counter. He leaned against the wall, his large hands pocketed as he now glanced over at Tenn, who had started putting her things into the refrigerator, keeping out a soda for herself. As always, she (in hologram of course) was wearing jeans that day, and a short-sleeved striped shirt that fit to her frame. She was the only real tomboy we had on our hall; she never programmed her hologram with any skirts or the like, nor did she appear to wear makeup. She didn't have to though, since she was already based on a model. Which was odd... so she'd based herself on someone already living, and Purple obviously reminded the Professor of someone who had passed on—I didn't want Zim to be based on anyone, living or dead. I wanted him to just be him. Oddly enough, I was more than convinced that he really was, and the Purple thing was just a coincidence.

"What?" Tenn asked Red, tapping her soda can a couple times before opening it. "Gaz, who the hell is that?"

I snickered a little and looked over at Red, who straightened again and folded his arms, which were also huge. Really, I wouldn't want to fuck with Red, he was really imposing. "Excuse me?" he asked.

Tenn laughed as she was drinking soda, then sputtered and had to recover before she spoke again. "Woah, woah," she laughed, looking up at Red. "Talk again."

Red growled. "I don't see what's so funny about this," he muttered.

"No way," Tenn said. "No fucking way. You're Tallest Red, aren't you?" Red didn't respond, and Tenn burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" I wondered.

"Jeez, what _isn't?"_ Tenn continued to laugh. "The Tallest! The Almighty Tallest, here, in your common room, and check it out! Human! Hah!"

"That's no way to speak to your leader, Invader Tenn," Red sneered.

"Oh, no, uh-uh, don't call me that," she corrected, setting her drink aside and walking right up to her Tallest. "You fucked up my mission. Now that I'm over the irony of this, I get to yell at you, since you're here." Where I wouldn't fuck with Red, Tenn, it appeared, would. She wound right up and smacked him across the face with one fist.

Red recoiled, then righted and braced himself. "What the hell?" he demanded.

"You fucked up my mission!" Tenn repeated, shouting now. "Is Tallest Purple here, too? I'm going to kill you! Both of you! What were you _thinking,_ sending me malfunctioning SIR units... a whole damn _case_ of them? They all but killed me! Was that your idea of a joke? I am never, ever going to forgive you for that!"

"What—that wasn't our fault!" Red hollered back, looming over her. The fight was making both of them really seem like the Irkens they actually were. (Of course, Tenn still was Irken, she just liked using her solid hologram around us all the time.) "That was a packaging error! We meant to send you a mech."

"Uh-huh! And the SIR units?"

"Were supposed to go to Zim."

"You jerk!" Tenn snapped, smacking Red again. "That's even worse! What'd he ever do to you guys but annoy you? Some people are annoying! I hate that people kept taking things out on Zim! You know the way he acted was never his fault!"

Tenn looked ready to hit Red again, but he stopped her before she could, casting a glance over at me before leaning in and speaking to his subordinate. "Look, I know, but sometimes those things got out of hand," he said, trying to speak quietly.

"You know," said Tenn, scowling and breaking free of Red's grasp, "I hope everyone here treats you guys the same way you always treated him. I really hope they do. Make a note of that, Gaz," she added, looking over at me and reclaiming her drink. "These assholes don't deserve the luxury you might feel you owe them as Tallest. Tallest, huh," she snorted, casting another defiant glare at Red. "Cowards. Lazy-ass cowards. Go on and ask him. Ask him what was the last great thing he and Purple ever did for _us._ What have they done for the rest of _us_ in the Empire, huh? Personal gain, personal gain, blah, blah, blah. See you later, you shit excuse for an emperor." Making eye contact with Red one last time, she then tossed her head and returned back into her room, slamming the door for emphasis.

"As soon as we get back, you're being demoted!" Red shouted after her.

"Not going back, don't give a shit!" Tenn shouted from behind her door. I heard her music reach a higher volume. I tried to suppress a laugh. The two were like father and daughter almost, but I didn't dare say that around the Tallest.

Red turned to look at me... stared down his nose at me is probably a better phrase. "What?" he demanded, noticing I was trying not to laugh. "Don't listen to her," he added, his sharp red eyes narrowing. Suddenly, he leaned down to look at me square in the eyes, and the humor in the situation was gone. "I'm still the Tallest, got that? Miyuki's heir or not, you aren't in position yet, kid." Right, okay, yeah, they _definitely_ knew. Probably more than I did.

"O-okay," I said, trying to get my wits back. "You should still apologize."

"What?" He spoke as though the concept was the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard.

"You should apologize to Tenn," I repeated. "Believe me, Tenn's like me when it comes to revenge. She'll stop at nothing to get you back for that, which sounds like a pretty bad situation. Whether it's your fault or not, I'd think a good leader would go out of his way to apologize to someone in his empire that he wronged."

"All right, what's going on out here?" I heard Purple ask. Red straightened, and we both turned to see that the second Tallest had joined us, and was just now situating himself by leaning over the back of the armchair.

"Tenn's here," said Red.

"I know. So?"

"So she's pissed at us. The SIR units."

Purple's face flushed. "Th-that," he said, his eyes widening. "Huh... as long as we're here, we may as well apologize." He reached back to fiddle with his hair, letting the long black part fall loose for a second before retying his low ponytail. Somehow, each of his actions seemed more regal and elegant than any preceding ones.

"You, too?" Red groaned. "Why do you care?"

Purple shrugged. "It'd be the right thing to do," he said. "I already know that we're going to have to make a lot up to Zim, we may as well apologize to Tenn, too. She deserves it... that did really kind of go wrong for her."

Red glared at Purple for a moment, then sighed and gave in. "Fine," he said grudgingly, then turned to me. "Go get her."

"What?" I exclaimed.

"You heard me, go get her."

"Hey, I'm not under your control!" I snapped.

"Yeah," Purple cut in, much to my surprise. I would have thought he'd be more commanding, too, and try to order all of us around (since he had acted quite rudely toward Professor Haynsworth), but I could never judge too quickly, I supposed. "Just call her out yourself."

"You have to apologize, too," Red reminded his partner.

"You just yelled at her," countered Purple.

"Tenn!" Red shouted, getting annoyed.

"Can't hear you, jerk," she called out from behind her door.

"Get out here," Red commanded, not even taking a step toward the hall.

"Fuck off!"

Purple rolled his eyes. "Oh for—I'll do it," he said huffily, shooting Red an awful glare just before walking toward Tenn's door. He straightened, knocked lightly, and said something so softly I couldn't hear it over Tenn's music.

As soon as I heard the door actually open (once the music had been turned down), I walked around to get a good view of the hallway, since I wanted to see Tenn's reaction upon first seeing her other leader as a human, since seeing Red had already gotten a good laugh out of her. When Tenn opened her door, she was, understandably, looking up, until Purple cleared his throat. Tenn had a good four inches on him, and upon taking in his appearance, she burst out laughing.

"Hi," said Purple, simply.

Tenn just kept on laughing.

"Red and I want to apologize personally to you."

"You don't..." Tenn began, trying to speak between bouts of laughter, "you don't have to, if you don't want. This is payback enough. Why are you so _short?"_

"I just am."

Tenn continued laughing.

Purple cleared his throat again and said, "Red is ready to apologize." He stepped aside and gestured toward his partner with an elegant motion of his right hand. He could have had very lovely and sincere eyes, I thought, sharp and Irken though they really were. I kept thinking it, but both of the Tallest really did scare me that way. They looked human enough, but their eyes were weird, and not just in color. They were just plain foreboding. There was something powerful and ominous about them.

When Tenn was once again face-to-face with Red, the Tallest just glared at the ex-Invader for a moment, and I felt the tension in the room rise. Purple moved to stand next to me, then thought again when our eyes met briefly. He looked away and huffily changed his stance, hands on his hips, chin firm and poised.

Red and Tenn began talking, but I suddenly wasn't very interested in them. I wanted to know what was up with Purple's mood swings. I'd been trying, since coming to the SEC complex (and especially since Zim re-joined us), to have a better outlook on things, and be nicer to people. I didn't want Purple to shun me... he seemed like he had the potential to be a really nice guy. He had maybe a couple inches on me, but I knew that would change once I hit another inevitable growth spurt (I'd been cautioned about my own fourteenth birthday...); for now, though, these two were both, to me, the 'Tallest.' And I kind of didn't want to get on their bad sides.

"Hey," I tried, "you don't have to be nervous around me. I'm not so thrilled about being, uh... well, what I am, so..."

"I shouldn't talk to anyone here," Purple snapped, shifting so that his arms were folded.

"I just said—"

"No," he said firmly, briefly turning to look at me. I saw him struggle with himself for a moment before he looked away again, and then he sighed, a sadness hanging over him again. "No," he repeated, more calmly. "Not yet anyway. Give me time."

"Um... sure," I agreed.

I wanted to say more, but just then, Red shouted, erupting, "I'm _sorry,_ okay? Isn't that what you wanted?"

"You are such an idiot!" Tenn snapped. "How are you a Tallest? I need more than just the words, okay? Make it up to me."

Red stiffened, his large hands clenching into fists. I started to worry for Tenn, but I knew I couldn't stop Red on my own. He took in a deep breath, then said, as evenly as he could, "Look, I'll do what I can, all right? If you do come back to the Empire, I'm sure we can offer you a promotion. That's all I can give you right now."

I heard Purple laugh a little, and I glanced at him again. "Pitiful, aren't you?" he asked of his partner, getting cocky.

"What?" Red asked, turning to look at him.

Purple grinned, full of a deep secret. "You know what I mean."

"I apologized, didn't I?" Red muttered.

"Oh, bravo," Purple mocked, clapping his hands together once. "I have more to say to you later." Red just gave him an awful glare, which Purple shrugged off.

"Well?" Red wondered, looking at Tenn again.

She sighed. "That'll do for now. I can find ways to torment you on my own as long as you're here, if I feel like it."

"What?"

"Look at you," Tenn challenged, prodding her Tallest, her index finger to his chest. "We're on equal ground here. Isn't Earth great?"

"I'm not convinced."

Tenn shrugged and walked to the fridge. "I'm gonna take a guess," she said, opening the door and pulling out two of her Irken sodas. "It'll take Purple a week to like it here. It'll take you... mm... two years."

"Two years?" Red burst. "Are you suggesting I'm even going to be here that long?"

"Who knows?" Tenn said, tossing him a soda. "You want something, Gaz?"

"I'm all set," I said, waving it off.

"Actually, in a second, I might change my guess," Tenn laughed. "Drink that, Red."

"Tallest Red," he muttered, opening the can. He took a sip, and his narrow eyes widened before he choked and forced himself to swallow. "What is _in_ that?" he coughed, setting the can of soda aside. I had to suppress a laugh while Tenn laughed right out. "What'd you do?" Red demanded of her.

"Nothing. I thought this might happen, since Zim eats human food," Tenn laughed. She took a sip of her own drink smugly. "This can start making up for what you did to me," she decided, glaring at the Tallest.

"Wait..." said Red, looking seriously afraid, "are you saying..."

"Here," Tenn offered, pulling out a can of normal soda from the fridge and tossing it to Red, "try this one."

"It isn't Irken."

"Duh."

Warily, Red glared at the drink, then opened the can and tried the contents. He contemplated it for a moment, looking at the label uncomfortably through his rectangular glasses, then muttered, "Fuck."

"I knew it!" Tenn cried. "You can't eat Irken food anymore!"

"How is that at all funny?" Red's displeasure seemed to be enough for Tenn, and it seemed to be amusing Purple as well, who moved over to the counter and leaned back on it, shifting his bangs out of his eyes so he could watch every second of the scene before us.

"Ah, relax. Go mope somewhere else," Tenn said haughtily.

"You've got a terrible attitude, Tenn," Red sulked. "Funny or not, Irken food or not, I need to _eat something._ I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry," Purple offered.

"I haven't eaten in days!" Red argued. "Besides," he added, turning and pointing an accusing finger at his partner. "You're always hungry, too."

Purple hesitated for a second, then pushed away from the counter and grabbed at his hair. "Aaugh, you're right!" he groaned. "I haven't eaten in _days!"_

"Oh, you shut up, you actually ate a bit of human food at the hospital," said Red.

"Aaaah, that doesn't change the fact that I'm used to having food around all the time!" Purple complained, his fingers digging into his scalp. "I'd eat anything right now!"

"Shut up!" Red griped. "You're reminding me that my insides are pretty much eating themselves—"

"Stop saying the word 'eating!'"

Tenn had to hold onto the refrigerator door to keep from falling down, she was laughing so hard at the two of them. I glanced over at her, then back at the quarreling Tallest, then back at Tenn again. "You gonna be okay?" I had to ask, feeling my face awkwardly contort upon seeing how much fun she was gleaning from the ordeal.

"Man," she laughed, "that's the Tallest for you!"

"So they're always like this?" I had no idea how I'd ever be able to take that, if complaints like this continued. Oh, right. I'd eventually drop-kick them back to their Empire.

"Yep!" Tenn grinned, calming herself a little more. "Greedy, arrogant jerks though they are, their behavior's good for a laugh."

Red heard that, and whirled around. "Promotion or demotion, Tenn?" he barked. "Your choice!"

"Gaaaaaaaah, why'd you have to remind me how little I've eaten?" Purple wailed. I noticed that he was now slumped over the counter, his low ponytail falling across one shoulder.

"Would you shut up already?" Red groaned, looking back down at his now nearly incapacitated fellow Tallest.

"It's your fault for always letting us eat so much..." Purple whined.

_"My_ fault? Who keeps depleting the doughnut supply?"

"Stop mentioning fooooooooood!"

"OH MY GOD WOULD BOTH OF YOU JUST BE QUIET?" I finally snapped. Purple looked up from where he was, still bent over the counter with his arms folded in front of him, and even Red turned to look at me. "If it'll make you both shut up," I said, gnashing my teeth, "I'll make you something, even though lunch today was supposed to be come-and-go! We eat three meals a day here and have plenty in the fridge, so if I catch you whiny little bitches complaining about food one more time, I personally will shove your asses back in here and leave you to think something up on your own! For God's sake, aren't you two emperors? Should you really be focusing all your energy on _complaining_ about something so simple? I don't think so! Now, shut up, sit down, and I'll show you what's available in this kitchen! The next one who complains will end up _VERY SORRY."_

The Tallest, and even Tenn, were silent for a moment. Then, after some contemplation, Purple smiled and stood back, while Red tensed up even more (seriously, that guy was the definition of 'having a stick up your ass'), and the two of them looked at me. While the looks were very different, they were both understanding. Red was acknowledging that I knew best in this situation, while Purple was genuinely thanking me.

"O_kay,"_ I said. "Glad we got that worked out. Excuse me, Tenn," I added, going to the refrigerator. She moved nicely; she'd seen my rampages before. Even though she wasn't the target of my newest threat, she got the message even if the Tallest fully didn't. To be honest, this situation sort of propelled a slight friendship between me and Tenn, since we both were respectful of what the other was capable of.

I didn't want to put too much effort into getting anything ready for the Tallest, so I made grilled sandwiches on Charlotte's panini press, and showed them where we stored all of our cold and dry goods. It ticked me off that, even when I served them, Red didn't seem completely satisfied. Purple had actually said, "Thanks," but Red just stared at his plate.

"What?" I snorted. "Not good enough for a Tallest? Not used to sandwiches? It's what we've got."

"It smells weird," Red commented.

"Well, it's not Irken-made, _so_ sorry," I said, sarcastically. "You can at least digest it, even if you don't like the taste."

"What's the point of that if I don't kn—"

"Oh, shut up," Purple said in a careless tone, grabbing half of the sandwich (which, yes, I had cut for the stubborn Tallest) and shoving it into Red's mouth. "Chew and stop talking for a second, would you?"

Red muttered something into his mouthful of food, but Purple ignored him, and just let go with a flourish of his hand, showing how little he cared that Red was being a jerk. Red grabbed the sandwich half with his right hand, glared sideways at Purple, then bit off a bit, chewed, and swallowed. "Oh, and that's the last time I'm force-feeding you," Purple added, taking a much daintier bite of his own lunch for himself. That was a little weird, since he'd put up such a fuss for being so hungry. Maybe he liked savoring things, being someone who enjoyed food so much.

"Well?" I prompted.

"Tastes fine," Red muttered.

"You're welcome," I coughed.

"No, really, they're good," Purple assured me, ripping off another small bite's worth from his still-unfinished first half with his left hand. "Thanks a lot."

I know I must have made a face again. I just didn't get it, with those two. "You're welcome," I managed. I exchanged an odd glance with Tenn, who shrugged, then left the kitchen.

And so it was that I met and became thoroughly confused yet intrigued by the Irken Tallest. While Zim seemed submissive toward them when they'd arrived, Tenn certainly wasn't afraid to stand up to them. A few years ago, I'd have pitted Zim in a role more like Tenn's, but I was liking the courteous nature he'd been developing lately. It made me want to have different outlooks myself.

But things were beginning to get set in motion here at the Corporation. We'd gone from having one resource for Irken knowledge to four; my brother and I were starting to come to terms with our family background; we had Zim to fight for us, and the real work hadn't even begun. I only hoped I'd be able to keep up.

– – –

– – –

**Author's Note:**

Aaaaah, at last! The Tallest have come to the SEC, and now the story can really start playing out~ ^^

So I have a lot to say this time… ahaha… please bear with me… ^^;;

First of all, back on Chapt. 4, Gman2092 left a comment asking which was my favorite of the Tallest, and I've been waiting until this chapter to answer it (sorry! ^^;;;): I love them both equally; I do. The Tallest are one of my favorite parts of the entire show, and I can only hope that you, the readers, enjoy the path this story will unfold for them. Red and Purple each have their strengths and faults, but if I truly had to choose a favorite Tallest… the show answer is Purple. I won't reveal which is my favorite in the _Saga_ yet, since there's still much to be said. :3 I will expand on it later, I'm sure, because I seriously could talk about the Tallest all day. XD That said, these guys are a little too fun to write~ ^^

I also love writing Tenn~

And okay, so… a warning:

Narrations from here on may start to intersperse and sometimes even overlap (I already had some overlap going on in these past couple chapters… ^^;), so I hope it doesn't get too confusing. Also… I think it's safe to say we're about halfway through _Part Two_ now! :3 That means halfway through the 'transition' period, slowly coming up to my favorite segment of the _Saga_ (it is reeeally no secret that _Part Three_ is my favorite…). Aaaand I'm ranting.

One final note… I honestly can't express my gratitude for this readership enough~ I see comments/reviews for every update, and it makes me so happy to read how invested you guys are in this story~! I read and love every single comment, and just wish I weren't so nervous about responding… ^^; I seriously could not have asked for a better readership for _IZMS;_ thank you all so much! :D

See you again next **Friday, September 2****nd****!** WHY IS IT SEPTEMBER NOW? When did this happen? I feel like I was just freaking out about it being August… D:

And thus ends me being insanely giddy and vocal this evening… ahaha… I think I'll go make some tea… :3

~Jizena~

– – –


	17. New Leadership 2: Keep It Together

– – –

**Author's Note:**

_Invader Zim_ is -c- Jhonen Vasquez! Only the events of this story, characters specific to the story, and character tweaking (heh) are mine. :3

~Jizena~

– – –

_Dib's Records_

Nothing was going the way I wanted it to. I'd returned from a frightening training session of uncomfortable new techniques to a Corporation suddenly too full of newcomers, too busy with taking care of a recent alien threat. Not only was I expected to deal with new members, no... these new members were Irkens. The highest ranked in their society, no less. Well, them and _Zim,_ who was just a thorn in my side.

Maybe I held grudges, but I couldn't see how anyone could blame me.

Still... annoying though his presence was, he was nothing compared to the Tallest. Holy shit, could they complain. Red especially. Damn. They managed to talk me around a deal that would allow them to be omitted from the chore list, and I wasn't sure if I liked the offer they used as the dealbreaker.

We were in my office when that conversation happened—I sat at my desk, and the two of them were positioned in the chairs that faced me: Red bent over his knees with his large hands awkwardly clasped, Purple sitting upright with his chin poised, possibly in an attempt to make himself look taller.

"Look," I said, aggravated mostly because there was so much else I could be doing, "if you're gonna stay here with us, you're going to have to pull your weight. That's all there is to it."

"And telling you the ins and outs of our society isn't enough?" Red snapped at me, sitting up. "We know you and that girl are Miyuki's heirs, but I'm not giving up my power that easy—"

"I never said I wanted it!" I hollered. "I just want Tak out of there, and if it's _possible,_ maybe we can work out some kind of diplomatic situation wherein we can be allies, but—"

"You're such a _novice!"_ Red countered, getting overly fired up. "How old are you, anyway?"

"Fourteen."

"Fuck that," he spat, "I'm a hundred and eighty-five and I've ruled for—"

"What's that?" Purple asked me to suspend his partner's outburst. I saw that his sharp eyes were focused on my strange Irken sword... the 'parting gift' from Miyuki.

"Huh?" I wondered, glancing at it as well before giving him my full attention again. I was glad for a change of mood, but both that sword and Purple scared me, in a way so subdued it was unsettling. "That? It's some Irken weapon."

"Where'd you get it?"

"I—Miyuki gave it to me," I said. The Tallest had, by now, been filled in on how much Gaz and I knew of the Empire, thanks to a couple of private meetings. Gaz was still shaken up on the whole subject, and hardly contributed to those conversations. In fact, Red and I mostly did the talking, if only because we (as much as I hated to admit it) were similarly stubborn and just ended up yelling at each other a lot. Purple, though, had yelling at Red down to a science, and would always interrupt at just the right moment so that we could get back on track. Thus far, we'd spoken of what Gaz and I knew of the Control Brain influence on society, and I had explained to all three of them Miyuki's wish that Gaz and I work with the Empire long enough to allow Irkens to think for themselves again. The Tallest had not quite yet told me how they felt about that. "Why?"

Purple smiled, bringing to his face an alarmingly soft and knowing expression. "You have no idea how to use it, do you?" he guessed.

Shit.

My heart skipped. I had a feeling he could actually read and evaluate my inexperience, whereas Red just thought anyone other than himself was an idiot. I realized then that it was kind of useless to lie to the Tallest. Red was stubborn as hell, but he picked up on things—mostly relating to power and his retention of it. Purple had his moments of apparent idiocy, only to then spring a comment on someone that made one realize he was one silent killer of a leader. Based on their human physical appearances, I expected opposition from Red; from the demure-seeming Purple, harsh words almost seemed like a surprise. I could try all I wanted, but lying to them was almost too risky.

Yes, I wanted to dispense with the secrecy throughout my institution, and didn't want to be a hypocrite, but around Irkens, I felt I could bend that rule just enough to, oh, save my planet from slavery or annihilation. Somehow, though, Zim still felt like the one I had to keep more of an eye on. He seemed more... unstable. Red and Purple were two I could actually work around and strike deals with, once back in position.

"I can manage with it," I answered the shorter of the two.

His eyes narrowed to admonish me. "Managing a weapon and knowing it are two different things," he scolded me. "You can have a mind to learn the skill, or you can be stubborn and half-ass it like Red, here."

"Hey!"

"Out of curiosity," Purple went on, "what Irken techniques _do_ you know?"

Again, I wanted to fight the question, but just couldn't. I had to work with these guys. Had to, if Earth stood a chance. "I can surge-step, kind of teleport... I, um... I can tap into the air's electricity and create concentrated bolts," I answered. "I'm better at that last bit."

Red, looking bored, asked, "Have you moved on to lasers?"

"I said electricity, and that's all I meant," I snapped back at him.

"I can use lasers." Was he 185 or two? Seriously.

Purple smacked him, then grinned back over at me. "So," he said, "here's where we make our deal. We need a place to stay, and lay low."

"And not wash fuckin' dishes," Red muttered.

"And not wash dishes," his partner echoed sternly. "You need practical combat practice with experts. I'll help you learn the proper way to control that weapon of yours, and Red here will handle the physical work."

"I already have a sparring partner," I said. "Tenn."

"One's not enough," Red said haughtily, sitting back and folding his arms. "When I was an Elite, I cycled through six per session. Plus," he added, his tone actually getting serious for once, "Tenn won't know the limits of control you probably need. If you're Miyuki's heir, only a Tallest can tell you what you can do."

I felt a chill go down my spine, stinging particularly between my shoulderblades. That itch, reminding me of the PAK influence, would, I was beginning to fear, never go away. Yes, I wanted to keep it under control. I just didn't want it to get any worse.

"Not saying I'm doing this willingly," Red then felt it necessary to add.

"Just as long as we don't have to do menial things," Purple finished for him.

"Right."

I sighed, seeing few other options to keep everything under control and everyone satisfied. "Okay," I gave in. "Deal. But I can terminate the agreement at any time."

"I'm not doing—" Red started.

"Fine," Purple cut in.

"I hate you sometimes," Red muttered.

Purple gave a slight _"fuh"_ of a laugh, rolling his eyes and eventually looking off in the other direction. I'd imagine that if roommates and couples got on bad terms sometimes, the two of them as co-rulers must have had quite a history of keeping on each other's nerves.

But it was decided. No going back, for now.

When I ran the idea past Charlotte and the others at the next Board meeting, it eventually became apparent that I needed training in several areas, and thus a new schedule was born. Having a schedule would help keep me on track, I knew, but my problem was wanting to balance everything and not slack in any field. Which Gaz kind of beat me up for, yelling that I'd end up like Dad. Which was not my intention, so it was decided that I _had_ to take one day off a week.

Because I hadn't trained in it yet since my return, it was decided that I have a two-hour session every Monday with Nacea, to keep my Meekrob skills honed, and get myself focused for the week. Tuesdays, I decided, would be for me to check in on all matters around the complex, have a couple hours of personal research time, and then have that same two-hour block for training with Tenn. Wednesdays were Brakem's most rigorous training day for his army, so I had the option of sitting in on that prior to the two-hour block which I was then supposed to spend working on sword skills with Tallest Purple. Tallest Red would then train me in PAK technique and control on Thursdays. Which left Friday a mystery until I asked Professor Haynsworth if I could possibly take that time to train with him. I'd forgotten, however, that he already led several archery drills on Fridays within the army, and needed his evenings to relax, so he suggested instead that I work with Lex, who would test me on stamina based on everything else I'd done during the week. Saturdays were to catch up on meetings and research, and then, as per Gaz's request, I took Sundays off. Which I was hoping to spend mainly keeping my sister up to speed, and assuring her not to worry too much.

So, great. I had this intense new schedule glaring at me, and the first thing coming right up on it was a Wednesday. I called a meeting that morning for everyone in the main building plus General Brakem. Nacea, Tenn and the Tallest compared Resisty notes—from the types of attacks Red and Purple had witnessed at the hospital they had apparently investigated prior to coming to the complex, to the autopsy notes that Nacea and Tenn had made and recorded with Agents Cthulhu and Bloodrose. Races were chronicled, and eventually things worked around to battle tactics should another wave of Resisty soldiers attack. Brakem spoke of dividing the army into squads much in the way things had been arranged during the last attack, with Cthulhu and Professor Haynsworth both in charge of a battalion.

The Tallest, after some discussion, were persuaded to fight with us against the Resisty, as they were a common enemy, though it was still obvious that everyone's main target was Tak. Tak, who was eerily biding her time. She'd wait until just the right moment. So we had to take advantage of all the time we had.

Professor Haynsworth ended the meeting, saying that he was set to meet with some of the foreign reps who had agreed to be tutored in archery as well as in firearms, and I caught up quickly with my sister before leaving for my own uncertain afternoon. "You're already way too busy," she scolded me. "Find time to stop."

"I will," I told her, "don't worry about it. What are you doing today, anyway?"

Gaz shrugged. "Lex said she'd teach me some stuff," she said.

"Well, that's a good thing, then, right?" I tried.

My sister growled. "You're just saying that cuz I said some name other than Zim. If _he_ was teaching me anything, would you still think it was okay?"

"Depends on what it was," I said hurriedly. "Look, I told you, I don't care as long as you don't say anything."

_"That's_ reassuring."

We'd have to pick that up later, which we did, over and over again, but for the time being, I knew the Tallest wouldn't want to be kept waiting. Purple had gone ahead of me, having left with Brakem in order to look through his assortment of weapons that were available to use for practice, and just what the rules of the _dojo_ were. Every second leaving me more nervous than the one before it, I grabbed Miyuki's sword out of my office and headed to the _dojo_ myself.

It really was a great training area. I'd meditated with Nacea and sparred with Tenn there plenty of times, so I knew the large room well, but I should have figured that this time around would be different. As soon as I stepped in, I felt, just as Red had said, like a novice. It was just the air Purple was giving off. The pressure in the air around him was strange, as far as reading it went. It was heavy and indecypherable; moreso than, say, Tenn's. _Tallest,_ I reminded myself. Despite his height.

Actually, just due to the way he carried himself, Purple managed to make himself look taller and more commanding. At a slender five-foot-six, he still kept his head up and his shoulders squared, projecting the image of, well... a soldier. He had the long black part of his hair tied back as usual, and wore almost no expression at all. As soon as I entered, his purple eyes fell on my weapon, and he didn't look impressed.

"Give me that," he requested. Strange that it wasn't quite a demand, but he was still forceful enough to get me to listen. With some hesitation, I handed over the sword. Purple took it by the hilt and stepped away from me, holding the weapon out to measure its reach. His thin eyes stared down the blade to the tip, and then, his motions fluid and fast, he cut it once through the air, turned, shifted to hold the thing in both hands, and swung out behind him. He finished the brief examination with a flourish, transferring most of his weight to one leg and slinging my Tavic weapon over his right shoulder.

He made it look so easy. I knew I hadn't been handling it like that at all, during the brief Resisty threat. Now this guy just demonstrated such poise and concentration... I knew right off that Miyuki's training had, in fact, been but the tip of the iceberg.

"Hmm," Purple commented before I could say anything. "The balance is off, for me. The weight distribution is more suited to someone of your stature." I decided it would be a really bad idea to say anything about his obviously decreased height, so I didn't.

"But you were just using it so _easily,"_ I gawked instead.

Purple stared up at me almost scornfully. "Boy, _that_ comment just gave away your inexperience," he laughed. "I was testing the weight and reach. You," he went on, shrugging the sword off his shoulder and pointing at me with the tip, "aren't ready for this."

That said, he walked over to the back of the room and set my weapon up against the wall. It looked, well... alien, against the rest of the weapons on the far rack. It reminded me of what I knew of broadswords, a little, though it was much thinner, and had that strange sheen that Miyuki's Mirror had. The hilt screamed Irken influence, while Brakem's collection ranged from Western European to Eastern Asian and beyond—he had maces, _dao,_ several types of blades from swords to knives, but nothing quite as impressive and unique as the Irken weapon.

"What gives?" I demanded once I'd been stripped of, oh, the thing I was supposed to be learning to use. "I thought you were training me."

Purple laughed as he began to evaluate the weapons rack that hung on the wall. "I told you," he said, "you're not ready."

"I'm not going to put up with this if all you're gonna do is make fun of me," I snorted.

"Look, I don't have to put up with you either," Purple said, casting me a quick look over his shoulder, "but anyone who owns something like that deserves to know how to use it." He then selected a seven-foot wooden _bo_ staff from the wall and turned to fully face me again. "But you're not gonna be slinging a double-edged Tavic _kairedon_ around until you can respect what it means to be a weapons technician."

_"Kairedon,"_ I repeated. "That's an Irken word?"

"The 'long, thin blade,'" Purple confirmed with a nod. "There used to be several different kinds of blades in the Irken artillery, before Vortian influence. I've done enough research on ancient war tactics to know my way around a sword like that, though. I prefer them, actually."

"What're the other types?" I had to know.

"There's the _redon—_the thin type, the _draken—_the broad type, and the modern laser-type," said Purple. "That's what's around now, anyway. Within each type, there are categories based on size and number. Yours is pure Tavis, so it's top-tier for its type. With training, it might suit you, as Miyuki's heir."

I felt a chill again. "Could you stop calling me an heir?" I requested.

"On one condition."

"What?"

"Don't call me _sir."_

I held back a groan, but I did say, "Wasn't planning on it."

"Good."

"Okay," I said, slightly reluctantly, in an effort to get back on track, "so now what?"

As a response, Purple grinned briefly, then snapped the _bo_ staff in two over his left knee and tossed me the longer splinter. "Hey!" I yelled. "What're you doing? You can't just do that, these don't friggin' belong to you!"

"There's more of 'em," he shrugged. "Now. We're going to start with stance, and respecting the benefits of having an extended reach."

"But this is a stick."

Passively, my new mentor walked toward me with even strides. Once in front of me, he struck out, taking aim for my neck with his splinter of the staff. I yelped and blocked him with mine at the last second, and as I was recovering from the shock, he said, "A stick that could save your life."

I stepped back, and he came at me again. Now I saw just how his human stature suited him: Purple was _fast._ If he and Red were anything like Zim, his full internal body chemistry was human enough, so I doubted that he could use the teleporting surge step, but it was almost like he didn't need to. Everything was so fluid, too; it was like he could just glide.

At first, I couldn't block him, and I was pretty sure he was probably enjoying having the upper hand. It was like training with Miyuki all over again—the way she'd just shoved me right into it, rather than explain anything first off. "You said you can read electric energy!" Purple shouted at me after I'd just managed to dodge a strike.

"Yeah, so?" I hollered back. "Miyuki didn't really say anything about _sticks."_

"It's not a stick," Purple said darkly, coming right up under my nose and holding his end of the _bo_ staff directly at my neck, "it's a weapon. Read it and respect it."

I slapped his hand away and stepped back, in an attempt to catch my breath. "Sorry, I just can't read inanimate objects," I said, scowling behind me at the weapon against the wall. If I couldn't handle a staff, Purple was right—I sure as hell wasn't ready for a blade. I'd been striking blindly with it, though it had started to do what I wanted the longer I kept in contact with it. Then again, if it was Irken, if it had been created by someone who then became a Tallest herself, it was very likely that it wanted control just as much as everything else associated with that race.

Mind over matter. That was the only way to win against that side of my genetics. I was just really Goddamn stubborn about it.

"Then read the air."

Purple's words shocked me, and put me on edge. This time, looking him over, I remembered that he really was my opponent. Until I'd learned about Tak's usurpation, he and his partner had been my targets, my keys to the Control Brains, the ones I had to stop before I could save Earth and carry out Miyuki's liberation plan. And here was another thing: from what I'd known about them before, I thought that beating them would have been kind of a cakewalk. They were both kind of loudmouthed and haughty, and seemingly narrow-minded. Red's arrogance was annoying, but he got away with it still as someone to be feared. Purple's calm was unsettling.

And both of them were smarter than I'd ever given them credit for.

I'd honestly thought that the Tallest gene was random. That the Irkens just lauded whoever was taller, and that those two just happened to be the same height and were therefore able to rule side by side. But Red had mentioned the Elite, the old, terrifying Irken army that Tak was rekindling, and they both obviously knew what was what in the Empire. Purple had mentioned research just now, proving that, while the Tallest and the whole Operation Impending Doom thing had seemed like nothing but progress, progress, progress, the Tallest still found it important enough to consider history, obviously taking the best ideas and tactics from the past. And they could both fight. If Purple's speed was enough to throw me, I didn't want to be ready for my training session with Red the following day.

"The... the air?" I repeated. "As in..?"

"You haven't been listening," Purple scolded me. "I said," and here he held out his end of the staff, "this is an extension of your reach. If you can read the air, so can any part of you. Before the evolution of modern PAKs, Irkens had to rely on things like that weapon of yours, but how do you think they did it?"

I drew in a long breath, and studied the staff end I held in my right hand. Glancing over at him, I noticed that I was even holding it wrong. I wasn't really paying attention to it. So I corrected my hold and made myself get used to the weight of it. The staff was much lighter than the sword, but it was still something there, and, yes, connected to me. "So," I guessed, "all Irkens can, and have always been able to... read and use electricity?"

"The planet Irk is alive with it. That's why it became a computer so easily."

"So... so hold on," I said, holding up my left hand to signal a pause in combat, though we'd sort of already taken one. I always preferred working out ideas aloud. "Electricity obviously fuels computers," I began, "and the better understanding someone has of what's naturally available, the better they can work it into a system. Obviously, Irken PAKs are computers, right?" Purple nodded stiffly, his sharp eyes studying me in such a way I felt like I might be poisoned if I got something wrong. "So Irkens are more in tune now to natural electricity than, say, Miyuki's generation wa—"

"Wrong!" Purple cut in, his voice escalating almost an octave with the word. "I understand you don't want me and Red calling you guys 'heirs,' but it's true only because you're heirs to her generation of understanding, even if you do fall under modern constraints." "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Let me finish." Goddamn, those _eyes—_they made me not want to look at him at all. "Modern Irkens are weaker! The organic bodies can't retain as much knowledge because the computers do it all, and the computers filter out whatever they don't feel is important. And so it's been, on and on. Tallest Spork was stupid. He got rid of the Elite and then died. The Elite were the last of the real soldiers, and now everything is computerized. The PAK does everything and the brain accepts it!"

"You're talking like you're above it," I observed.

"I AM!" Purple shouted. "So is Red, and so, believe it or not, is Zim!"

"Why?"

"If you keep training, you'll figure it out," was all I got as a response.

"No, okay, so, wait," I said, "this still all sounds like the modern generation is more in tune with electricity..."

Purple shook his head. "Anyone with a modern PAK can't read electricity like the old generations can," he told me, "because the computer does it all. You have Miyuki's genes, but you're young."

"Also human," I muttered.

"Also there's that. But when it comes to your Irken genes, kid, you've got a choice. What eventually happens to a computer?"

"Uh..."

"It becomes obsolete." Purple paused, to let the thought sink into me. My hand stung where I held the staff. "You'll work on this more with Red, but the same applies to using an organic weapon rather than your PAK." God—fuck, he'd said it, and now my back ached. "Are you catching what I'm saying, or are you really that stupid?"

I nodded, but I didn't say it. Rely on natural abilities, Dib, or you'll shut down.

Once again, fuck you for leaving me to figure this out, Miyuki. Fuck, fuck, _fuck._

"Good! Now maybe you'll fight back instead of just running from me the whole time." Purple rushed at me again before I got a chance to completely work through the thought, which was probably a good thing. He struck—I dodged. He struck again—I blocked.

"Strike!" he commanded. And I did. And the air came alive with an electric current; I could read its flow, and followed that current with my arm again, getting in another strike. Of course, my more talented opponent was able to block those hits (and I was pretty sure he could read the electric current as well, human body limitations or no), but I still felt great for having figured out (thanks to some terrifying badgering on his part) what to do with that extended reach.

He didn't compliment me at the end of the session, but I didn't expect him to. I decided not to expect anything of the Tallest, since they'd been managing to surprise me at every turn, even if they did irritate me. Purple left to find Red, probably to fill him in on what he'd just taught me, and I was left to sit in wonder of what the other Tallest could possibly have to add onto that.

– – –

When Thursday afternoon rolled around, I met with Red in the same place. He already looked bored. But I couldn't underestimate him. I had to take whatever he'd teach me.

He made a show of how much of a bother this was to him, though, which immediately told me that Thursdays really would be the most difficult. At least some semblance of sanity could come of the weekends, even though I was already having trouble figuring out how to relax. Red put me right on edge, and the first thing he said was, "What'd you do yesterday?"

"With Purple?" I guessed.

"Duh." He was glaring at me, but somehow his glare was subdued behind his glasses. His eyes were harsh, but didn't cut as strongly as Purple's, thanks to those wire-rimmed obstructions. I wondered how bad Red's human vision was... if he was as nearsighted as me, or if I possibly had one over on him in that respect. Especially now that my vision had improved somewhat since training with Miyuki. I wanted to keep relying on my glasses though. Just one thing to keep me human. Please.

Not wanting to start right off with an argument, I told Red about the minor weapons history lesson that his partner had given me, and about Purple's interpretation of computerized energy versus reading it organically. Including how he'd said that some Irkens, both of the Tallest included, were of that 'mind over matter' status that I needed to achieve in order to not be controlled by the Brains like most of the Irken masses. And then, of course...

"Purple told me that even Zim is above modern PAK influence."

"Did he?" said Red, his eyebrows knitting together in anger over his heavy eyelids. "That guy sure can run his mouth when I'm not around. What else did he tell you?"

"Just a bunch of stuff about computers and electricity, like I said," I shrugged. "For the most part, he kept whacking me with a stick." And that part really was true. I had marks on my arms and sides to prove it, from when I hadn't been able to block or dodge.

Red actually laughed at that part. "All right, that sounds like him," he grinned. "Sucks I can't do the same."

"What, hit me with a stick?" Red shrugged. "Whatever," I passed him off. "What're you teaching me?"

The Tallest groaned and strode up to me, then grabbed me by the collar, leaned down to speak to me eye to eye, and said strongly, "Don't call me a fucking _teacher._ I'm _allowing you to survive,_ because as much as I hate to admit it, we need you if we're gonna bring Tak down. So listen up. You've only gotten so far in basic Irken training. I can't do a lot of those things because this stupid body is really limiting, so you're just gonna have to listen to me and do whatever I say, since I can't demonstrate it. Got that?"

"Yeah, jeez," I said, wriggling out of his grip. "So what do I do? I mean, obviously, you and Purple can still use your minds, right? I'm not really getting that part." When Red looked about ready to strangle me, I amended the comment: "No, no, well, I get that Irkens have two parts now: an organic body and mind, and then a computer that basically does everything else. I just don't get how you're different."

"Cuz we're the _Tallest,"_ Red spat at me, as if that should have been obvious.

"Right, so why Zim?" I demanded.

"Because he's... different."

"Different _how?"_ This wasn't good. This really wasn't good.

"Look, we're not talking about that idiot right now, we're talking about you! And you're getting on my nerves and we're never gonna come to that 'diplomatic solution' you wanted the other day if you keep asking too many stupid questions!" Red shouted. "Now just go stand over there and we're gonna start off with drills we learned on Devastis."

There were no more questions. Nothing else about computers or energy or Zim was said. Red just pushed me. Hard. I had to show him what Miyuki taught me—show him again, show him again, I'm doing it wrong, show him again. Finally, he got back around to yelling at me and we got into physical combat practice. And, shit, could that guy _throw_ me. I mean literally chuck me into walls. Purple had most likely been enjoying having the upper hand on me, but Red was _thriving_ on it.

At the end of the day, though, I did learn something, and not just 'don't fuck with the Tallest.' When Red got back around to talking, I got him to spill more about the thing that had helped Tak rise to power: the ancient Irken artifact known as the Cabochon. Ancient Irken history was already starting to fascinate me, as well as that Tavis material. It was like gold was to humans. During the old prospector days, gold had men killing one another over it, and it still remained a precious and highly-sought metal. Tavis was even rarer, and had properties that, from what I gathered, concentrated natural electricity and energy into a crystallized form. Depending on how it was molded and how much of it was used, it could do all manner of things, from glimpse the future (as evidenced by Miyuki's Mirror) to render someone invincible.

Tak's amulet or whatever could manipulate, just as she herself could with her hypnotic abilities. Her natural ability plus the properties of that Cabochon... no wonder she was biding her time. She'd take everything she could before finally turning on Earth.

This wasn't going to be pretty.

So I was grateful for Red teaching me some Irken 'martial arts,' for lack of a better term, so that I knew what I'd be fighting against once the new Elite finally struck. I didn't thank him, though, and he sure as hell wasn't about to compliment me either. In fact, it was more a game of who pissed off who more, and what was the other guy gonna do about it.

And I'd get to do that one day every single week for who knows how long. Joy.

Red's Thursday session was then followed by Lex on Friday. The previous two sessions were so draining, I couldn't see myself surviving a stamina test very long, and she noticed that.

"God, did they suck the life right out of you?" she wondered when I arrived for the session.

"Not yet," I muttered. "What're we doing?"

Lex folded her arms. "Nothing, if you'll be behaving like that," she said scornfully. "Daddy suggested I drill you, but I want to use this time to practice as well, so we're going to go to a shooting range."

"I don't use guns or arrows, though," I reminded her.

"No," said Lex, suddenly sounding slightly frightful, "but you can shoot energy, can't you? I'd assume you need target practice."

Well, she was right about that, so I followed her without question to a place out behind the regular army drill areas, where she (and, admittedly, her father) had set up an array of targets. Professor Haynsworth, I remembered, was finishing up his own skills class at the time, and I was a little disappointed we couldn't work with the rest of the group, but easily reminded myself that most of the Corporation probably didn't want to see me firing off Irken energy. Nor did I really want to show them.

I didn't want them to know how inhuman their leader was.

About halfway through our target practice, I caught Lex staring at me. It wasn't really the kind of stare one would get just from demonstrating a skill well. She'd sounded nervous before, and now she looked it. She looked almost scared, actually. I blasted another target, then took the time to talk to her.

Lex and I hadn't spoken all that much, since she always seemed to be angry at me for weird reasons... namely that I wasn't my father and that I'd always seemed confused. Well, no shit I'd seemed confused, I couldn't help that... and I couldn't help the fact that I hated my dad and wanted to be nothing like him. Lex had a _great_ father to look up to; I assumed if the Professor knew Dad, that Lex, who was a few years older than me, probably remembered Dad a little bit the way he'd been before my mother left, or she'd just gone off of stories the Professor told her. I'd been wanting to get to know everyone in the Corporation, though, especially those in the main building, so I gave her a chance that afternoon.

"What?" I wondered.

"What?"

"You were staring," I observed.

"Oh," said Lex. "Well, it's just that... that's not exactly something you see every day."

"Well, no kidding, it's Irken," I muttered.

"Right, and that's what your mother could do?" Lex guessed. She still had a hold of her crossbow, and her right hand numbly fumbled for the safety switch so she wouldn't accidentally set it off.

"I guess so," I said. "So... stamina. Am I doing okay?"

"Looks like," said Lex. "You have good aim, I suppose." Then, she kind of exploded. "It's just _weird,"_ she insisted, "it's _weird,_ the things you can do!"

"You think I don't know that?" I shouted back. "All this just keeps getting thrown at me, and I'm expected to keep up. I don't even know why I'm supposed to be showing you, I mean, what all do you know about me?"

"My father's told me plenty, but—"

"So _of course_ it's weird!" I went on. I was mainly angry at the fact that I was doing any of it at all, not necessarily the fact that Lex was pushing me to think about it. "You think I want to accept all this? It's crazy!"

"Excuse me for inquiring!" Lex spat.

"It's—" I started off yelling, but forced myself to calm down. I'd been yelling with Red all afternoon the day before. The last thing I needed was more of the same. "It's fine," I decided on saying. "It's just... a lot all at once. I apologize."

"Sure." She then suggested we return to the _dojo,_ but as we walked, she began, "Listen, I know you told me not to ask, but I know you've spoken with my father on the subject, and it's just been a little troublesome to me, so..."

I sighed. "Go on and ask," I said, knowing what she was aiming for.

"How was it that you... you know, aged beyond your actual birthday?" she wondered.

"I didn't," I said, even though I myself could hardly believe it. "I just grew. Grew into experience, your dad said, which kinda makes sense. In a way. I guess. I dunno, it's just weird. Again, a lot to deal with at once."

We didn't end up training in anything else that day, since Lex said she'd have to think over exactly what it was she could teach me. But we talked about something we had in common: her father's wisdom. Professor Haynsworth always knew the right thing to say, and apparently he'd raised his daughter very well in the ways of the paranormal. She knew almost everything there was to know about vampire lore, and how to separate fact and fiction and all, but she also knew about the things the Professor used to work on with my father.

Namely, the Corporation.

"So it's kind of great that you've come to be in charge," Lex then said to me.

I couldn't stop a laugh. "I thought you hated me for not being my dad," I told her.

"You didn't seem like the visionary my father painted him to be!" Lex said in her defense. "I expected his son to be... well... I don't know. Long and short, though, I'm sorry."

"Well, I'm sorry too," I said. "I really don't want to be on bad terms with anyone here. I just hope we can work together on... whatever this training session becomes."

Lex was about to laugh, but hid her mouth with one hand when she so much as cracked a grin. I didn't make a comment, because I was in no place to say anything, but it really was kind of weird to me that she did that. But we left it on good terms, with Lex saying she'd work out some kind of session plan, though she admitted she didn't think herself much of a teacher.

I didn't really care. Anyone with even the slightest idea of what it meant to practice patience was already a better teacher than Tallest Red.

– – –

"Your mind is in too many places," Nacea observed during the first Monday session I had with her as part of my new routine. This was the most we'd interacted since the day before my birthday, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous.

Nervous, indeed, for two reasons. First of all, the glaringly obvious: I was afraid of how my newly learned Irken techniques would interfere with my Meekrob abilities. They required different kinds of concentration, and I certainly wasn't looking forward to crossing wires. It had to be done, though, no getting around that. The second reason was almost more nerve-racking than the first.

Nacea and I still hadn't mentioned it... the kiss she'd given me prior to my training session with Miyuki. I didn't know if she'd meant it in a truly human sense, or if she thought it would be reassuring or what, but it terrified me. I didn't want to let those kinds of emotions get in my way, but I couldn't help the fact that, genetically, yes, I was a teenager, and such thoughts were sure to surface. It was just that my only previous experience with 'love' had been my foolish kid-crush on Tak, and _that_ sure went over well.

"Yeah," I finally said to answer Nacea's question. "So can we just... meditate? That's what I need. I just need... calm, for a little while." Yeah, for two hours—the full extent of the training session I was set to undergo. I really needed it.

"Very well," said Nacea. "That is how we shall begin, to clear your head."

And it worked, at least for a while. When the session ended, all Nacea said was, "Try to find the time to clear your mind of worry until our next lesson."

"Sure," I muttered, and returned to the main building to find that GIR had decided to make use of himself as a shredder. Of every newspaper Charlotte had brought in from town that morning. All I could do was glare.

"I made confetti!" he announced, showing me his triumph.

_"WHY?"_ I erupted. So much for two hours of catching myself up and relaxing my thoughts.

"You need a party!" GIR screamed, chucking a fistful of newspaper shreds at me before getting on a jag of manic laughter and tearing into the back grand hall.

"You little—" I began to yell after him before giving up and growling out my frustration instead. That would have given me an _awesome_ excuse to yell at Zim about something, but I remembered that he'd begun first-wave training himself, as part of Brakem's army.

I trusted Tenn to keep him in line, and when I started up my new combat training with her the following day, I asked her right off to tell me how he was doing.

"Is he even getting it, or what?" I wondered, hoping for a good laugh.

Tenn shrugged. "Look, Dib, I get you have good reason to hate him for trying to take over your planet and all, but they guy's good," she said.

"Ugh, really?"

"Yes, really," Tenn snapped. "He knows how to fight, and when Zim gets motivated, he's—"

"Dangerous?" I offered.

"I was gonna say 'professional,'" Tenn scolded me. "If you don't believe me, come to basic training tomorrow. But I'm not gonna waste _this_ time arguing about it. Okay?"

"Fine."

So I did. And, fuck it, she was right. He was a great fighter. He had fast instincts and could run, quite possibly, faster and farther than I could. Which pissed me off. The rivalry was back on.

And so it continued. Mondays through Thursdays I trained, harder and harder, with an array of nonhumans, and then spent Fridays trying to figure out how the fuck I could keep my energy up for stamina training with Lex. It wasn't easy. Having her the day after _Red_ was awful, since I'd still be all sullen and pissed off from whatever he'd just been demanding of me.

Eventually, though, I settled into it. I dully accepted everything that was thrown at me, and I went from being pissed on Fridays to complacent. I worked out all my aggression midweek with Tenn, Purple and Red, and bookended it all with Nacea to start and Lex at the end. And Gaz on the weekends. I sometimes caught Professor Haynsworth in conversation as well, but he'd become quiet in regards to talk of my father. As if he'd told me enough. But he was still good to talk to, and Lex slowly became easier to talk to as well. The only person that didn't factor into my schedule was Zim, even though I kept tabs on him like crazy.

There was one thing to be said for schedules. We all had them, and we all abided by them, for now, with little else available to us for options. My sister was a slight exception, but even she busied herself, mostly in the interest of not obsessing with worry over the truth behind our background. She and Zim were separated by his more rigorous demands, and their chore wheels never crossed (I'd seen to that at the beginning).

But Gaz was looking sad and withdrawn again. I'd tell her on my days off about the things I did during the week, and she'd listen, comment that I was too busy, and then lecture me about my training.

"You're gonna lose yourself," she told me.

"No, I'm not, Gaz," I said, "I'm training so I _won't,_ you know."

She shook her head. "Dib, it's still getting to you. You've said it yourself. You have three Irken mentors and one Meekrob! Take more advantage of the weekends, I don't want you getting so caught up in your work you _become it!"_

That comment bothered me all that week. I had trouble meditating. I couldn't concentrate. My reach was off. I let Red push me around. And then on Friday I just about broke down.

"Can we not focus on too much today?" I requested of Lex. I'd slept in that morning. I never slept in. I was losing it. Red drilled more and more Devastis-inspired arts into me; Nacea had me building upon more and more uses for energy; Purple had told me that I was ready to use my weapon the following week. "I don't know if I can take it."

Lex shrugged. "We can tailor what we do, yes," she decided. "What were you thinking?"

I sighed and said, "This is about stamina, right? Can I focus on my mind?"

"Isn't that what you do with Nacea?" Lex wrinkled her nose, showing she was trying to get her thoughts in the right place.

"No, I meditate with Nacea," I said, shaking my head. "I mean, like... my mind. My, I don't know, memory. You knew my parents, yeah?"

"A little. I remember enough. Is that what you want to talk about?"

I gave myself a few minutes to think about it, but my head was too busy even for that. After allowing myself a quick glance around the room, what I saw and what I needed became obvious. This was supposed to be a lesson in stamina. In how well I was coping.

Coping—that was it.

Yes, the other days could get annoying. Yes, sometimes I'd even close myself off after a training session because I'd worked out so much fucking Irken energy. But, despite my sister's fears... somehow, I was still myself. I hadn't given into anything yet.

Stamina.

"No," I answered her, shaking my head.

"Well, then, is there anything I can help you with at all?" Lex wondered. "Sorry if I'm not the teacher those aliens are!"

"Don't be," I said. I then followed that thought with a statement I realized was true the second I said it: "Honestly, I think I like Fridays more than anything."

She looked, for good reason, doubtful. "Why?" she wondered. I felt myself weaken a little. But that seemed standard. On Fridays, I could be vulnerable. I was allowed to not push my limits, just so long as I could prove to Lex that I _had_ been working on things all week. I was allowed to make mistakes, and all she'd do was make a note of it and tell me to go onto something else. And maybe that was why she was placed as my Friday instructor at all. I would have tried too hard around her father, or around any of the older members of the Corporation, who were expecting these huge things from me. Lex admitted that what I was able to do scared her, so she never asked to see something demonstrated for long.

Realizing this, I took the opportunity to walk over to the open end of the _dojo_ and sit, to look out over the complex, and I said aloud, "...Because you're human."

"Oh. O-oh..." said Lex, her voice going from brazen alarm to near hush in an instant.

She'd better have been ready, because I felt the onset of a tirade, and I wasn't able to stop it from being said. All those nerves had been stewing up to be let out sometime... apparently, that time was now.

"Everything else," I said, "all week... it's like... it's like it takes me further and further away from what I am, and—God, I don't even _know_ what I am. I used to know. Or think I knew. I don't know! I don't know."

Slowly, Lex walked up to where I'd claimed a seat, and hesitantly sat down herself, a couple feet away from me. She tucked her knees up and leaned forward on them, and we both tried not to speak directly to one another, though I did sense her looking over at me when she admitted, "...I don't think I've ever seen you like this."

"Well, congratulations," I said, more harshly than I'd meant to sound. Correcting my tone, I went on, "You're the first to get to see me totally break down. I'm being so fucking unprofessional. I'm sorry."

Once again, Lex almost laughed, but hid it and restrained herself. "No, you're not, you're being... well, you're being fourteen," she said. I let the thought sink in, but it only managed to hurt even more. Because it was true, but it wasn't. And what I'd told her was right. I liked having just one day a week to be around a human. One person completely and utterly linked to Earth and nowhere else. That was something not even my sister could claim. Lex and her father were the most down-to-Earth people around. Literally. They took their paranormal work seriously, but they were very, very normal. And if there was one thing I yearned for, 'normal' was, sadly, that very thing. "Let's stop for today. For the love of God, Dib, take some time to just be fourteen."

I bowed my head. It was incredible that she could see me that way, or at least be someone to have the courage to point it out. I forgot my age all the time. It didn't seem to matter anymore. Gaz probably had serious reason for her fears. Any further over one ledge and I really would end up like Dad. Any further over another and I'd go crazy with all this new Irken crap. It was nice to hear someone basically tell me that, at very basic, I really was still a kid at an odd age in life.

"I can't," I sighed anyway. "I don't know how."

Lex sat up straighter, dangling her feet over the edge of the _dojo,_ then slapped one knee and said, "All right. Then, let's go back to what you first said. I think I've figured out a better use of our training time." She didn't like to talk around things, or deal with hesitation, it seemed. Maybe that was her frustration with me earlier: I'd seemed too inexperienced to make decisions. And yet now here she was telling me to go ahead and be a teenager.

I translated all those mixed signals into a simpler idea: I was young, so I shouldn't have to feel like I needed to do everything alone. Which was exactly what Gaz tried to tell me, too. Hearing it from another part of, oh, the actual Corporation helped, though.

"Yeah?" I wondered.

Lex nodded. "And probably the point from the start," she added. "We're stuck with this Friday time, but that's probably for the best. Forget stamina in the sense that we've been doing. From now on, Friday is your day to be human."

To keep it together. I liked that.

We didn't speak any more that evening about Irken abilities or the Tallest or anything. But I did ask her, once we'd basically just talked for about a half hour about folklore instead, "So, you've been doing sessions with Gaz, too, right?"

"Sessions if you'd call it that," Lex shrugged. "In the real world, it's called hanging out with a friend."

"Oh, is _that_ it?" I smirked. Lex covered a smile. "So what do you do? Girl things?"

"You're so..."

"What?"

"Fourteen."

"Awesome, so I hear. So," I said, "as just an annoying, inquisitive teenager, and brother of the girl you're roommates with, what's all that girl time about?"

"It could very well be classified."

"Oh, come on. But it's not fight training at all?"

Lex shook her head. "If you _must_ insist on it being any kind of skill training, I've been teaching your sister music theory," she told me.

"Music theory?"

"Yes. She's a very good guitarist," Lex complimented her, which was almost a roundabout compliment to me. I really was taking that 'head of the family' thing seriously. "I can't play the guitar for crap, but I can match chords with my violin."

"I thought girls talked about clothes," I said, attempting humor.

"You'd really think Gaz would talk about that?" Lex challenged me. "No, we play music. You should come listen sometime, she really is very good."

Still caught up in how great it was to be having as close to a normal conversation as I'd ever get on Corporation grounds, I agreed. And even told Gaz about it later. She looked at me like I was on fire, and it took me a moment to figure out why.

Mom had been the only one in the family who played music, to my memory, anyway. If Dad ever had, I'd repressed that; he no longer seemed like the type who cared for anything like that. But she'd left, and taken all traces of melody and harmony with her, and I'd hated music ever since.

I had given Gaz's guitar a listen plenty of times before, though, and I did overhear her playing with Lex. It all tied together once I heard the guitar and violin together, too:

I couldn't hate music. Not anymore.

It was the one thing that made me believe that Miyuki really was, if even for a short amount of time, somewhat human.

I guess hate can turn to hope in a lot of different ways.

– – –

– – –

**Author's Note:**

Hello hello! Happy September to all, and I sincerely apologize for having to push this update back a day… _ I ran into an awfully tight schedule with my job this week, and time really slipped away from me, but I am happy with this week's update; thank you all so much for waiting this extra daaaay! ^^;;;;

Mmm, so many great new comments lately! ^^ _Transitions_ is steadily moving along~ I love reading your reactions, speculations, and comments! Welcome to new readers, too, thank you all so much for sticking with this _Saga;_ I really hope you enjoy the story that will be unfolding as _Part Two_ steadily works toward its completion…

I am sad to say, though, as much as I want to honor the Friday time, I think that it will be best for me to update on Saturdays for the rest of _Transitions,_ based on the way my work schedule is turning out lately. I hope this doesn't throw you! It will be an easier flow for me, I think, and hopefully I can go back to posting more than one chapter per week again. Next week we'll get to see what Zim is up to again~! ^^ Yay!

But DAMN I love writing the Tallest!

So, as a tester of the new schedule, I will see you again next **Saturday, September 10th!** Again, thank you all so much for your support and readership~~! You are awesome!

:3

~Jizena~

Random addendum! I really did want to get this up yesterday, since it was… September 2nd! I have been calling September 2nd Zim's unofficial 'birthday' for quite some time, as it is (in the _TWFF _timeline) the calendar day on which he first became human. ^^ To celebrate it, though, I _did_ start up a Tumblr account (because I'm insane and was cooped up during Hurricane Irene, but still with internet!) on which I posted a couple sketches, and will be posting more very soon. There's also an ask section there, so if anyone would like to drop a comment outside of , I'd love to see you around Tumblr or Twitter (and I'll be starting to post on my Twitter more as well, in terms of keeping things up to date on future updates, in case things will be posted early, late, or if there are extra chapters going up…), since I'd love to start being more interactive, as I do get nervous fully replying to comments here sometimes... ^^ Links are in my profile (or here: jizena-dot-tumblr-dot-com! ^^), I hope to see you all around! :3 Much, much love~

– – –


	18. Field Mission 1: Inept

– – –

**Author's Note:**

_Invader Zim_ is -c- Jhonen Vasquez! Only the events of this story, characters specific to the story, and character tweaking (heh) are mine. :3

~Jizena~

– – –

_Zim's Records_

Honestly, I couldn't help but be jealous of Dib. Of course, if he ever found out, I'd never hear the end of it, so I kept the thought to myself. Most of it had to do with his private training sessions with the Tallest. Red especially, who I'd wanted to learn more from myself. It was weird... Dib and the Tallest making secret deals like that.

Gaz knew what they were up to, but whenever we spoke, she didn't want to talk about it. In fact, there wasn't much Gaz ever _did_ want to talk about. She'd gone cold. Well... she'd sort of _always_ been cold (it was a part of her charm, honestly), but I'd once been able to speak more freely to her. Now that I knew—_knew—_that I loved her, and wanted to earn a human soul for her, the want... the desire to talk to her was stronger than ever.

For the first few weeks, I let her be silent. I let our interactions be little more than a glance and a smile when we passed in the hall, but by the time October came around, I once again started realizing how damned stupid I was being.

One October morning, I lay awake in bed for a good half hour before shaking myself into action. I'd been at the complex for two months. I'd been _human_ for two months. And all I'd done was be really awkwardly busy training with the SEC army. I'd been allowed the indulgence to sleep in that Saturday, and finally got the time to _think._ And my first thought was:

"Oh, my God, what am I _doing?"_

I sat up and grabbed at my hair, cursing myself for thinking I could just bide my time. My upstart shocked GIR awake, too, and he jumped up (from where he'd been on the floor) screaming. Before anyone could come pound on my door and demand that he shut the hell up, I dove off the bed and grabbed the little robot, covering his mouth with one hand.

He stared up at me with his wide, blue, lithoscreen eyes, and I think what was the moment that really solidified it. The separation. I ran it over in my head again: I had been human for _two months._ That was a hell of a lot longer than eight days. That much was something to be celebrated.

But I'd fallen into a routine. After all that trouble I'd put up with, caused, run from, I found myself on Earth... only to once again be a soldier. Fighting was, in this case, necessary, but perhaps my immediate willingness to do so was another thing throwing Gaz off. For someone trying to earn a soul, I wasn't proving myself human very much, or very well.

Right. So what the hell _was_ I doing?

Answer: placating Dib.

Why? Fucked if I knew—oh, right. So I wouldn't get kicked out. So... yes. He had to be kept happy so I could stay, but I really had, once again, fallen slave to routine. No more. No. Bad Zim. Bad idea.

With a day off, though... ah. There was hope. I held GIR out in front of me and spoke my plan out to him. "Okay," I began, "it seems like I've got plenty of time here. I mean, I get that the PAK's _there,_ but I haven't felt it. That's good, right?"

He shrugged.

"I say it's good," I decided, because to think otherwise would kind of be damning myself.

But I knew that I was lying to myself. The PAK _was there,_ and the Empire still worried me, as a presence in my life that, no matter what, I just could not yet shake. After all, we would probably be hearing from Tak soon enough. Once that happened, the times I could have to talk with Gaz would lessen even further, and I worried for the Tallests' safety once the inevitable clash came about. I did wonder if I had done (yet another) horrible thing by bringing the Tallest to the Swollen Eyeball Corporation... the one real safe haven on Earth for those who believed and knew what was going on. Earth's last, or at least best, defense.

Yes, they had made a deal to stick around and help the SEC until they were restored to where they were supposed to be, but it was something to worry about all the same. In a weird way, I was kind of hoping that they would be able to pick up enough human reasoning to see that conquest wasn't always necessarily the answer. I felt that Purple kind of already believed that... it was Red who needed the most convincing.

I had myself to worry about, too. The flashes weren't going away. In fact, on some days, they intensified after a few hours of training with the army. I would see glimpses of battles fought and won in the past... scenes from the parts of my life I couldn't remember. No flash ever told me anything more about Miyuki, though. Not yet, at least. No clues of why her death continued to haunt me. The Tallest wouldn't answer my questions about it, either. I'd only asked a couple of times... was the situation they'd told me really the way I'd killed her? Had I really developed a horrible creature that had eaten her alive? All I knew was that, after her life, I'd started over. My very first memory, that I could actually place, was on Devastis. If there had been more before... well, clearly, that wasn't something I could or wanted to access anymore.

And there was no telling what kind of damage the PAK could do to the human body I'd grown so used to, once the repairs started to kick in. But I didn't want to think about that. I wanted to think about what I _could_ control. The here and now. The things I didn't want to give up on. If a remaining Irken trait in me was stubbornness, so be it, because _something_ had to keep me going and focused.

"Right," I sighed, having reached the decision to ignore the Irken influence on my life for the time being. "So. I need to—something. Help me, GIR!" I pleaded in a moment of _complete_ stupidity, shaking the robot as if that would make him spit out a logical answer. "What do I do? I need to talk to her, to Gaz, I need to _do_ something for her, I have to not just keep... going off and killing myself with routine."

"You needs a plan!" GIR cried out.

"A plan. Yes! A plan," I agreed. I thought about that for a moment, then set GIR down and grabbed at my hair again with one hand. "I'm really bad at making plans sometimes," I admitted, speaking toward him but to myself.

Ultimately, after taking a long shower and a brief walk, I decided to just start off with a simple conversation, and see where that would lead. When I racked my brain for topics, I glanced around at the foliage—at the golden autumn that had settled into the complex. I'd thrown on a zippered sweatshirt to combat the cool, crisp air, which of course immediately reminded me of the one I'd lent to Gaz during the Warp. I'd left that gift for her in there, and had been confident that it would survive the reverse warp with her. That subject was one that I was not ready to approach quite yet. Soon.

Another thought saved me from that one: it was October. Halloween fell at the end of October. Now, I hated Halloween. I'd hated it ever since an awful incident during which I'd been trapped in a world fabricated from Dib's imagination and had been ambushed by all manner of nightmares that were almost impossible to fight off. Oh, eventually I'd figured it out, but it just wasn't my holiday. It seemed to suit Gaz, though. Her dark creativity seemed to be something that Halloween could compliment quite nicely. I'd have to keep that in mind.

My senses were inundated the moment I walked back inside—an incredible scent was coming from the kitchen, but then again, that was a common occurrence lately. Every meal at the complex, from simple to complex, I thought was fantastic. The human palate was much more trained than an Irken one; choices were more varied, there were many more tastes and textures. So of course I was partial to everything.

Once I walked into the common room, I saw Gaz's roommate, Lex, bent over the counter that separated the kitchen from the sitting area, flipping unenthusiastically through a large book. She glanced up when I walked in, said a brief hello, then went back to the book.

"Hey," I greeted. "Something smells fantastic."

She looked up again and gave me an odd look. "I'm microwaving a frozen curry dish," she said, almost laughing. "It can't be that."

"I think it is, though."

Lex stood back, looking quite glad there was a counter between us. She, I gathered, was still getting used to the Irken involvement at the complex, and even though I kept telling everyone to treat me like a human, I still got roped in with the Tallest and Tenn. Tenn and I, at least, weren't the best examples of Irken society for the Corporation to go by... Tak's army was sure to be—I didn't want to think about that.

"You really do like just about anything," she observed, "so long as it's human-made, don't you?"

"Pretty much," I shrugged.

"Well, all right..." said Lex, still keeping her distance. She did shove the book over to the side of the counter I was now walking up toward, and accompanied the action with, "Then look through that. I'm quite busy today, helping my father, and just can't have dinner on the mind. You and I are on dinner rotation tonight, so if you choose, I'll cook."

"Sure," I agreed, "but I kind of should learn how to make things."

"That much is your call," said Lex, "but just please pick something, I have so much on my mind."

The microwave went off, causing her to attend to her lunch, so I turned my attention on the book. Every single recipe was something I wanted to try, but I had an awful concept of how long it took to make things and whether or not we had the right ingredients, so based on other meals we'd had in the past, I looked for something that seemed reasonable and decided on something I came across with chicken and steamed vegetables and a sauce I couldn't pronounce for the life of me.

"Hollandaise?" Lex read, upside-down, even, while stirring the curry and rice around in her microwave bowl. "I suppose that would be the only involved part of it."

"Holidays?" I stupidly repeated, hearing a slight similarity.

_"Hollandaise,"_ she corrected. "Look, if you want to seem more human, I'd suggest..."

"Not being so inept?" I guessed.

"I wasn't going to say that, but yes."

"Oh, no, I'm inept," I admitted, glad I could at least laugh at myself. "I have no idea what I'm doing in a lot of different ways. In fact..."

Still slightly on edge, Lex took a seat at the counter, where she set her lunch down in front of her and gave me a testing look as she said, "All right, go on and ask."

I leaned back a little to get away from that weird glare, and, confused, wondered, "Ask what?"

"It's advice you want from me, isn't it?" she guessed.

"Eh?"

"You said you're inept," said Lex, before taking a slight pause to eat a couple bites of her curry and rice. "I agree."

"Thanks?"

Lex rolled her eyes. "Look, are you or are you not completely infatuated with Gaz?" I felt myself flush and stumble even in my seat, which Lex read as a response when she continued, "Okay, that's a huge _yes,_ so on to question two, which is, are you or aren't you after relationship advice?"

"Eh? Oh. OH!" Holy hell, she was _offering?_ This was spectacular.

At the same time, I couldn't help but feel stupid for the fact that when it came to weighing my problems between having just been exiled from an Empire that was now out to kill me and finding the right thing to say to the girl I wanted to develop something with again, the latter seemed more daunting.

"Honestly, yes," I admitted, since that really had been one of the first things that had popped into my mind after I'd met Gaz's roommate. Since I never knew, with people at the Corporation, I let an awkward question come out. "Real quick, just... just wondering, but... are you psychic?" I wondered.

Lex didn't know whether to laugh or roll her eyes and walk away, or so it seemed. Stick annoying on there with inept, I suppose. I really wasn't doing well in the 'let's prove I'm human' department. Yet. I was convinced, though, that proving myself human had something to do with the way others perceived my actions. Obviously, some people trusted me, so it was clear that I could trust. So how would the other three work? Fear? Hate? Love seemed easier. Seemed. In theory.

"No," Lex answered. "No I am not psychic. I'm just astute. And I know what's on the brains of teenage boys, and Irken though you may be, you do act plenty like any other teenage boy."

"I do?" I wondered hopefully, and then immediately hoped that was a good thing. "I thought I was just being an idiot when it came to..."

"Teenage boys _are_ idiots," said Lex bluntly, eating another forkful of her curry bowl. "Take Dib for example. He's a teenage boy, and he's an idiot. He's_ intelligent,_ but he's a total idiot."

_"Wonderful_ to know I'm on par with Dib," I remarked sarcastically, groaning to accentuate the point. "So... what can I do? I mean, yes. Yes, I do want advice. Yes, I am kind of gone over Gaz." Wow. Admitting it to someone else was kind of nice. It was like, now I had something to prove to myself _and_ to other people now. For the most part, it was just for me, though. I liked Gaz. I loved her. I loved her raw strength, the fearless way she chose to speak, the way she allowed herself to be vulnerable around me, and (during the Warp, at least) me only. "She just doesn't seem to want to talk about anything now. We used to be able to talk, but now she... won't. For some reason."

Lex stirred her curry around again and blew off some of the steam, then said, "First off, make sure you talk about _her."_

"I do!" I insisted. "Like, all the time!"

"But with her?"

"Yes!"

"Hm. Then make things simpler," Lex suggested, rising to leave.

"Simpler than what?"

"Than the simplest thing you can think of," said Lex. "Don't talk about her, maybe there are parts of her life that are depressing her, and—"

"Right, but I want to help her with that," I admitted.

Lex shook her head. "If she's refusing, then she doesn't want that. Start very basically. Try talking about music. Or just ask about her _day._ Do you ever ask her about her _day,_ or just about _her?"_

Huh, that was true. I didn't like seeing Gaz upset, but rather than try to distract her from whatever was getting her down, I had recently just been asking if there was anything I could do, if she was all right, if she wanted to talk. Maybe that was a problem, too. I was asking too much. No more asking, just _do._

"Right," I said. "I can do that."

"Lovely," said Lex, "but sorry," she apologized, picking up her lunch to take with her, "I really need to run."

"Well... thank you," I made sure to tell her.

"Of course. Gaz needs someone to spill her days to, and I'd rather it were you than me. I've been exhausted over this work."

"What are you doing exactly?" I wondered. "You and your father?"

"Oh... he's found a set of maps in his office," Lex told me. "Or, rather, not maps, but star charts. I've very little knowledge of intergalactic dealings, anything like that, so I'm educating myself as I go, I suppose. He needs help sorting through them, and we believe they may help us calculate distances and travel times for that... Tak that keeps being spoken of."

"Calculating travel times? How?"

"The Tallest gave us basic velocity information," she answered.

"I'm glad they're helping," I said truthfully.

"They... yes," she said, "they are." She obviously had wanted to say more, but for some reason she was refraining. Probably to keep me satisfied on the subject because I made no secret about the fact that I wanted the Tallest to do well and not be complete assholes to everyone at the Corporation. My guess was they probably _were_ being jerks, and nobody was telling me. Oh, Dib would tell me if something awful came up, I had no doubt. He'd tell me and then probably find some reason to kick us all out of there.

In fact, until that evening, I was pretty sure Dib was hell-bent on catching me doing something awful. Instead, though, once dinner came around (and after Lex had taught me how to make that sauce I eventually learned how to say) and everyone in the main residence halls was gathered to eat, something he did caught me utterly by surprise.

Dinner was unfortunately the first time I got to see Gaz all day. She walked in on her own and said a hello to me first, then to her roommate; there was a bit of hope in that she looked slightly more up than she had been lately, and no sooner had she taken a seat than Lex nudged me to go speak to her. I didn't waste the chance, and took the chance to sit beside her long before her brother could enter and interrupt.

"Hey," I said, keeping my tone mild.

"Hi," Gaz responded. She cast a glance back to the hallway in which both my and Dib's rooms were, nervous for the same reasons I was. "You made dinner, huh?"

I shrugged. "I picked it out and helped." Gaz was looking down, which was probably not a good sign. So as to shake her out of her funk before she could get into one, I tried out the question suggested earlier: "So, eh... how was your day?"

"What?"

I shrugged, hoping I was coming off as passive and normal enough. "How was your day?" I asked her, this time feeling myself smile as I said it. That sealed it, I believe. It was always so hard to read Gaz. So hard to know what she was thinking, and what she would do next. She was beautiful, unpredictable... and I loved that. I loved how honestly herself she was, which was what kept concerning me about her silent spells lately. Or, not so much silent as just her refusal to talk about things she obviously did want to talk about. But I didn't press it. I didn't press anything further than the question I'd just asked.

"Um... fine," Gaz answered, catching that the question was a new one for me, but looking glad I'd asked it all the same.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"What'd you do?" I wondered.

"Stupid things," said Gaz. "Seriously. I swear, I have to dumbest jobs here, but I finally got Dib to agree to me doing a mission later. Today I was shelving books."

"Shelving books."

"Stupid, right?" Gaz's face was suddenly lit with a spark. That was it. She had to get passionate about something, something that really set her off or that she really liked, and that spark came back. "I was in the library all damn day, and they were all books about werewolves and yetis and bunyips and things like that."

"The hell's a bunyip?"

"I have no idea!"

And so help me God, we had one of the most normal conversations I'd ever had in my life. She told me everything about her day—that question had gone above and beyond just doing the trick. It had really restarted a friendship. Close friendship, I kept telling myself. And someday soon, more. I listened intently as Gaz wove her activities out to me, from the dull book shelving to the private weapons strategies lesson she'd done with General Brakem in the afternoon.

This was wonderful. The more openly we could speak about anything random, the closer I felt I'd get to learning about whatever was bothering her. And then finally help her. Because I had liked that about what we'd had before. Just... the opportunity to help each other out.

Eventually, Dib did show up, with Charlotte and Professor Haynsworth in tow like a fixed entourage, and he was going on about something to do with a strategy. A word like that demanded everyone's attention, and others had gathered by then (though I had not noticed at all), so he addressed the group. "So listen up," he began, "I've been in training and negotiations with the Irken Tallest lately, and while I can't tell everyone about all of that right yet, at their request, I can say that there's a lot that demands our attention right now. Obviously, the big thing is still Tak. I've got Lex and Professor Haynsworth working on starcharts right now, and I'm going to try to match their charts with the nav system in my Spittle Runner later.

"In the meantime, we still have the Resisty to think about," he went on. Oh, yeah. That thing. That thing that had risen overwhelmingly in number since the last run-in I'd ever had with them, that had propelled my coming to the SEC at all. The fact that we hadn't heard from them was something, but it was also enough to be a call for alarm. "So here's what I'm proposing. Zim, this is a test for you." I practically whipped fully around when he said that.

"Me?" I wondered.

With a little encouragement from the Professor, Dib nodded stiffly. "Yeah," he said. "You do this and come back to me with nothing but actual facts, and I'll really start considering you a part of this Corporation."

"Um... okay," I said, trying not to sound too eager. "Sure. Is this a mission or something?"

"Oh, it's a mission," Dib answered. He drew from his pocket a small black notebook, which he flipped through until he reached a certain page marked all over the place in blue pen. Consulting the notes, he announced to all of us, "I'm sending out teams starting Monday. I need a count of how many people were attacked, if we can get any first-hand witnesses in here who want to talk or who need shelter, if there has been any alien activity since, that kind of thing. You, though," he said, pointing to me with the pen he'd slid out from the notebook's binding spiral; "I'm sending you to look for the Resisty leader, or at least gather what you can."

"Lard Nar?" I remembered.

"Yeah, the Vortian. Find out if he escaped or went into hiding or whatever, and if there's even a _chance_ he's still here, you go hunt him down and you bring him back." Well, that was an order if I ever heard one.

"Consider it done," I said. "Anything else?"

"Yeah," Dib said, almost sighing; his expression showed that whatever he was going to say next did not settle well with him at all. "You're not going alone. I need to send someone I do trust out with you to make sure you don't fuck anything up."

"That's very kind of you," I muttered bitterly in an attempt to show him just how I felt about those choice words. "Who's my mission partner, then?"

With some difficulty, Dib answered, "You're going with Gaz." My heart leapt. "She's training with me tomorrow, and then you two go out into town first thing Monday."

Well. Damn. This was fantastic. I had never expected an opportunity like that to fall into my lap. After days upon days of scooting us off in different directions to honor the regulated routines he so liked, Dib was not only allowing me time with his sister... he was pushing it. Us on a mission. Just us. Oh, hell.

We'd get to talk. We'd _have_ to talk. We'd find time, I was sure of it.

– – –

On Monday, at about five in the morning, each team was sent out into town, following General Brakem, who assigned posts as we went. No official uniform had been issued for the army as of yet, but we were all assigned a military-style black coat—black being the suggestion of just about everyone in the Corporation—with the blue Swollen Eyeball logo, which itself looked like the outlined suggestion of a human eye scan, on each shoulder. Everyone had a weapon of choice, as well. Gaz had her daggers, of course, and I stuck with the Vortian gun that Tenn had given to me during the initial Resisty attack, even though I would rather have trained with something different. A gun just didn't seem to be right for me, but for now I went with it. Each team of two was given a wristwatch communicator (Gaz had her old one so I was given a second) and a book of sketches done by Agent Bloodrose, based on the Resisty autopsies that had been done, complete with explanations of the species as detailed by Tenn, the Meekrob Nacea, and the Tallest. Red and Purple had contributed to the article for and confirmed another species based on an attack they had identified on one victim at the hospital.

As soon as we were given the book, I started kicking myself for not getting in touch with that reporter I'd saved from attack, the woman whose business card I still had in my room. She could technically be a great outside source of information on the outside. Oh, well. One more thing to impress Dib with later.

I told Gaz about the reporter as we walked, but I left out the part about me accidentally slipping into the ancient Irken tongue. I still didn't understand why that had happened, and I didn't want to chance anything by talking about it. Of course, that got me nervous thinking about what might happen if I should start having flashes around Gaz while we were out on the mission. Talk about something that would make anyone stop trusting me.

Well. I'd just have to hope for the best.

In an attempt to distract myself, I went again for light conversation. "These illustrations are really detailed," I noted, flipping through the book.

"Yeah," said Gaz. "Agent Bloodrose, or... Anita, I never know what she wants to be called... she's a tattoo artist. She did Dib's tattoo."

I felt my expression contort in confusion on that one. "Dib has a tattoo? That's weird."

"I thought so, too," Gaz shrugged, "but apparently _it's tradition,_ so he did it. 'Course that's just one more thing he has in common with Dad, now. Since I guess Dad would have one, too. The logo." Gaz tapped on the Swollen Eyeball decal on my left shoulder.

I couldn't hold back a light laugh. "What's with the name of this place, anyway?" I wondered. "Swollen Eyeball?"

"Ugh, I have no idea," said Gaz, tossing her hands up a little in defeat. "Everything about this place is weird, so it makes sense that it has a weird name, I guess."

"Sir, do you know?" I asked General Brakem.

We were the team walking closest to him, even though our dropoff point was the furthest away. We had been keeping to the very edges of town, so that nobody would see us coming through. Anyone awake at 5 a.m., anyway. Now, General Brakem was not the most approachable person at the complex. As an army leader, he was fine, I supposed, but I preferred having to deal with Red than that guy, and that was saying something. I was kind of convinced he was insane, primarily due to the fact that he constantly wore red sunglasses and had a live raven seemingly surgically attached to his left shoulder, which itself seemed to have some kind of psychic connection to the guy. I questioned none of it, and took his training with a grain of salt. I'd been doing well, and it kept my endurance up, so I went with it all.

"Nope," he answered gruffly.

Gaz and I exchanged a glance and a shrug that for both of us meant,_ Whatever,_ but Gaz wasn't finished with the subject quite yet. "See? Weird names just follow this place," she said. "I mean, look at the Agent names. Bloodrose is fine for a name and all, but I mean, Tunaghost? Charlotte was _Tunaghost."_

"Really?" I laughed. "That is weird."

"Yeah, and Dib was Mothman and this guy was Disembodied Head."

_"Why?"_

"Hey, General Brakem," Gaz asked, "how come your Agent name was Disembodied Head?"

The thin bald man cringed, and the raven on his shoulder ruffled its feathers in solidarity of action. "Because," he answered, "when I was touring overseas for Uncle Sam, my buddy's head got sliced clean off right before my eyes and his damn ghost, all independently moving head and body, haunted me till I got shipped back on doctor's orders cuz they thought I was crazy."

"Oh," said Gaz, casting a glance up at me. "Well, that sucks."

"Yeah," I agreed. After a few seconds as I mulled over his words again, I asked, "Why'd you go overseas for your uncle?"

"Kid, you are really not from around here, are you?" he bit back.

I learned the slang later, but for the moment I was still confused. It did make Gaz laugh, though, so that was worth it well enough. As we continued onward, I ventured to walk slightly closer to her, which she allowed, so at least the journey was nice. Brakem finally dropped us off at a far end of town I'd not been to before, saying that it was the best place to start because it was the only area we (the SEC) had not scouted yet. It was on the riverbank; the far end of town was bordered by a large river that separated it from the next city over by a four-lane bridge, and our mission was to start at the forest border and move in.

Sudden though the mission seemed, I was ready to finally get a chance to prove something. We were off to a good start, too, as far as observation went. The bridge, which we could see from where we were, even in the dim light of the morning, had been blocked off. There was a good question for whoever we'd end up seeing first. Membrane was probably behind that, in an attempt to keep any Resisty problems contained within this town alone.

A rustling in the bushes told us that any citizen questioning would have to wait. Good call on Dib's part sending teams out when he did. Even now, even two months later, there was still activity. "D'you think Dib knew?" Gaz whispered to me.

"About what?" I wondered.

"There still being Resisty members around."

"Maybe the Tallest just reminded him."

We couldn't postulate any further, since at that moment, two of those stick-bug aliens burst out of the thicket behind us and lurched forward. We dodged simultaneously, and instinctively I swept Gaz behind me to prepare for the things coming back for us. Silently, we agreed on a 'one each' policy, and Gaz rushed forward to take on the first one, drawing her daggers and cutting clean through the alien's brittle legs at the knees. When she bent to finish the job with a jab to the thing's gut, I took aim over her and shot the other down.

Before we could celebrate our teamwork, another sound came from behind us, and we turned to see a single Vortian approaching this time. Hardly without thinking, I set my aim again and prepared to fire. I didn't want to say anything, or even think it, but being back out in real action was exciting.

As much as I did not want it to define me, it did. I was a fighter. I was in my element when I was protecting what I considered to be mine. Be it my own well-being, my own dignity (dignity was a new one), or the girl I'd come to admire more than anything, I had to fight so that whatever it was would stay safe. And in Gaz's case, I wanted her to stay strong in return.

But as we steeled ourselves, preparing for whatever this Resisty member would try to spring on us now, the very thing I should have put more stock into worrying about happened. Now, yes, I wanted to be protective more than anything. I really wanted to be. But that was looking quite unlikely, because I froze.

My head began pounding, I felt a slight ache in my back, and it felt as though my mind sparked. Like a screen was trying to turn itself on. And soon enough, within seconds, there was a flicker, and then an all-out flash. This was worse than many of the others, too; much worse. Because it didn't come all at once and leave. It was trying to get me to focus on nothing else. Usually I could shake them. This time, the flash was fighting back.

Flicker—flicker—

I stopped it before it could become a full-on flash. Somehow, I'd managed, and celebrated that feat by squaring myself in front of Gaz and taking aim at the Vortian that was currently taking aim at me. "What do you want?" I demanded of him, putting my height to its fullest advantage. "Is there anything your little group is hoping to gain from being here?"

"Put down that gun, human, you have no idea how to use it!" the Vortian yipped up at me. To prove him wrong, I shot his own weapon right out of his hand. He stared up at me in surprise, and I kept myself squared in front of Gaz, despite the fact that I was fully aware of her capability to take care of herself against a single opponent. It was the action of protecting her I liked. That I'd take, whenever I could.

"Start talking," I commanded.

The small purple creature cowered and stepped back, saying, "All right, all right. It was our leader's idea."

"So you _meant_ to come to Earth?" Gaz guessed.

"Yes, we were met with some... difficulty on the way."

"Why are you _here?"_ I barked again.

"Our leader caught wind of someone who's here that we need to find!" the Vortian blurt out.

"Who?" Gaz demanded. "And why?"

"An Irken, because our leader said something about needing to talk to him about some—"

_"Which Irken?"_ I snapped, fearing I already knew the answer.

And the answer was indeed my name. The little purple thing burbled it out like he was a child learning to speak, such was his fear that I'd blast him in a second. Which I almost did, since my finger was suddenly trembling on the trigger. It shouldn't have bothered me that Lard Nar was yet another source out looking for me, it was the reason why:

He had to discuss with me an issue surrounding an event I no longer remembered. Tallest Miyuki's death.

The worst part was, I didn't know what upset me more: the very subject... or the fact that he'd throw an entire town into a panic in order to find me. Even if I wasn't causing it, destruction just seemed to follow me. And I did not want to be ready to find out why.

– – –

– – –

**Author's Note:**

Hello everyone! The first of the September Saturday updates! Next week's will be longer, I promise~ :3 (If I can work it, I _might_ have another chapter up tomorrow, since there is one that pairs with this that I really want to get up soon, so I hope to see you then for an extra time this week!)

Hmmmmm… _Transitions_ is winding down and getting ready to move into _Part Three,_ but there's a lot everyone still needs to learn first…

Gracious, I appear to be quite tired tonight… ^^; Thank you all so much, as always, for your awesome support of this Saga! I got round to replying to a few comments this week and will continue with others very soon! But for now, sleep~

See you next **Saturday, September 17****th****!** :3

~Jizena~

– – –


	19. Secrets 1: Starcharts

– – –

**Author's Note:**

_Invader Zim_ is -c- Jhonen Vasquez! Only the events of this story, characters specific to the story, and character tweaking (heh) are mine. :3

~Jizena~

– – –

_Dib's Records_

The idea to search for the Resisty had come about during a Board meeting; we'd been discussing the various foci of the different branches within the Corporation, and it had dawned on me that we really should have been doing a better job monitoring the rebel group's movements. I'd been so damn caught up in training lately, I'd sort of forgotten my initial reasons for getting involved with the Swollen Eyeball in the first place, long before I'd learned about my family's involvement: as a kid, it had just been about 'take down the aliens.'

And oh, was I ever going to do just that.

While Tak was training her army, I was keeping watch over mine. Looking at things from all sides, we weren't doing too badly for ourselves. I had Irkens on my side... her real leaders, no less. Sure, I kept an eye on them like crazy, but they were still there, offering their services against her.

Professor Haynsworth and Lex both helped to convince me that I had to ease up on Zim, though. Lex during our sessions, the Professor at meetings. He had done nothing but offer to help, they kept on reminding me. The general sentiment was: _give him a chance._ I didn't admit any of that to Gaz, who had been pressuring me to give Zim a break since he'd shown up, but I figured the best way to test just about everything was to send them off on that mission together.

I didn't know whether or not I trusted Zim to come back with what I'd asked him for. Hell, I didn't even know if Lard Nar himself was on Earth with the rest of his group. Part of me did want to see Zim fail, but, then again... he really was proving himself useful. And this, I knew (as much as I tried to ignore it)—this small chance might keep me in my sister's good graces.

After the teams had been sent out to gather information, speak to witnesses, offer comfort to victims and, in Zim's case especially, hopefully bring back Resisty members for questioning, Professor Haynsworth, Lex and I set ourselves up in the Professor's office, mapping starcharts on his desktop computer. He monitored the screen from the leather desk chair, while Lex, leaning back against the wooden desk, facing me, pointed out the route they'd projected.

"There's evidence of an odd celestial tailwind here," Lex pointed out, as her father zoomed in on a particular segment of sky, on the rim of our galaxy. "Daddy doesn't think it's natural, so we aren't ruling out Irken involvement."

"Now, you've told us that this Tak character has been on Earth before?" Professor Haynsworth asked me for confirmation.

"A couple times," I nodded, peering at the star display on the screen. "I see what you mean, too..." I'd been looking at star charts since I was little, memorizing the night sky, learning all I could about the far reaches of the galaxy. I knew what the rim of our star system looked like, and there was definitely a scattering of matter in that image that wasn't exactly right. It was off its color. Unnatural. Tampered with. "I'm not sure exactly how fast Irken ships move, but the Tallest do," I added. "Are you guys suggesting that Tak may have sent the Resisty off-course in order to distract us?"

"Well, you knew her," Lex shrugged. "Does it seem like something she'd do?"

Totally cheat in order to get something she wanted? Take every loophole possible? Sounded like Tak, at least the way she'd been during the Incident. "It, uh... sounds exactly like something she'd do," I confirmed. "Tak's a plotter, and can spring things on you when you least expect it."

"So we are to anticipate an attack from the Empire soon?" the Professor wondered.

I glared at the screen again, trying to make out some kind of meaning from the distorted pattern. Nothing came, other than the fact that there had been star movement caused by something other than gravity. "What the hell is she waiting for..?" I wondered aloud. "Hey, Lex?"

"Yes?" She perked her head up, eager to help, as she'd become. Our training sessions had been going better and better, ever since they became times for me to wind down after dealing with Irkens all week, and I'd been noticing more of her father in Lex lately... more of that honesty, more of that odd talent to be reassuring no matter what subject was under discussion. Oh, Lex had much more of an edge to her than her father did, but it was the kind of edge I needed to keep me on track. It was kind of nice to call her a friend now... one who really could help me stay grounded to the human world, at least a little.

"Can you take these charts to the bigger screens and go over them with Charlotte?" I asked her. "And if it's not too much, keep Red and Purple involved?"

"Oh, sure," she agreed. As her father copied their resources onto a portable hard drive, she continued, "I have a question."

"Huh?"

"Now, assuming Zim and Gaz do come back with the Resisty leader..." Lex prompted, "what are your plans after that?"

"Well, first of all, we figure out if he or his association have any value to Tak whatsoever," I told her.

"His is a conquered planet, right?" her father asked.

"It is," I nodded, "but I'm not ruling anything out when it comes to Tak. The real Tallest had much different Invasion motives, and, honestly, they would have been easier to go up against than her. Tak's got a hard grudge against Zim, so as long as he's here, the whole damn Corporation is in danger of the full cruelty of her attacks. We can't be too careful."

"And that's why you set him off on the most important mission?" the Professor guessed.

"Exactly," I sighed. "Zim and Tak _did_ work together for a while. I'm still trying to figure out all the details of how their little revenge story against each other works. But, I have to admit it, if Zim can prove himself now, we really can use his help. They worked together, so he knows how she operates, and if the Resisty are at all directly affected by the Empire as it is now, we can get Lard Nar to spill even more. We've gotta be beyond prepared."

"In that case," said the Professor, handing the hard drive to his daughter, "let's keep working."

"I'm on it," Lex said, almost smiling. To me, just before she left, she added, "Thank you."

"What for?" I wondered.

"Making all of this alien nonsense actually seem interesting."

Hell, if she wouldn't even crack a grin for that comment, I would. Why the hell wouldn't that girl smile..?

"It's good to see you getting along." I snapped out of the little speculation daze I was in once the Professor had spoken, and walked around to the other side of his desk. "I was concerned for a while that you might not... it takes Lex some time to warm up to people."

I shrugged. "Honestly, she's helping a lot," I said. "She's really nice, Professor... she takes after you."

He was silent for a moment, then caught my gaze as he answered, "I'm sure this is the part at which you want for me not to mention your own father."

Well, he'd nailed that. Even a mere mention of Dad set me off lately. Every day that passed was one more day of Dad ignoring us, and that bothered me on most days, and pissed me off on others (usually Thursdays, when Red got me in a pissy mood anyway). Before I could go off on that yet, though, Professor Haynsworth quickly changed the subject.

"If you don't mind," he said, pulling something out of his top desk drawer, "I've a few files I'd personally like to go over with Tallest Red... if he'll accept me in conversation."

"It's no problem," I said, "do whatever you have to." I glanced around the room, at the neatly-organized shelves of books, at the air the Professor's office carried. His brand of professionalism, his literary expertise, his modestly-displayed life experiences. "Hey, Professor?"

"Yes, Dib?"

Letting out a sigh I hadn't meant to emit, I confessed, "I feel... I still feel weird giving someone like you orders. Or, not orders... tasks. You, Charlotte... I don't know. Am I, y'know, living up to... whatever anyone had been expecting?"

"Your intuition hasn't failed the Corporation yet," the Professor smiled. "I'd say that seems you're fit for the position after all, hmm?"

"I, um... suppose," I decided on saying. "I'm definitely getting used to it, I'll tell you that. It's almost just natural to me to want to _be_ a leader now, too..."

"Then," he said, "you're well on your way to be earning the title of 'Professor' yourself, since it seems you'll be staying on in the position for some time."

"Yeah," I half-laughed sarcastically. "Like I really want to be referred to as 'Professor Membrane,'" I tacked onto that, folding my arms.

The Professor shut off his computer and turned to face me. "You can't honestly detest your father?" he wondered, folding his arms across his desk. No matter what he did, he looked professional.

I sighed. "It isn't that I _want_ to," I admitted, "it's just that he doesn't seem to have any interest in me. He doesn't call me by name, he hates everything I love to study, or so it's always seemed, and even though I've been gone for such a long time, he hasn't made one single attempt to contact me." Professor Haynsworth was silent for a minute, thinking that over, then collected the file he'd found together, flipping through it once before stacking the papers back together neatly.

"Is there anything at all you can tell me about him?" I ventured to ask. "Professor, I know you two knew each other. What was he like? What did you study? I mean... how much a man of paranormal science was he? And... what happened?" That was the part that was getting me most. When had the change happened? When Mom left, probably. But had Dad known..?

My father's old colleague laughed. "You know, Dib, the more I speak with you, the more I see traces of your father in you," he said. "There is absolutely no way you could be mistaken for anyone but his son. I've known him for years, and now that you know it was he who founded the network which you now lead..."

"Oh," I interrupted, hoping not to be rude, "and why is it that _everyone_ seems to know that? And why was I never informed before—"

"These are questions you should ask your father, rather than me," said the Professor.

"When?"

"When he comes around." If that would ever happen. "I think you'll find you don't hate him as much as you think you do, and I know for a fact that he thinks very highly of you." He grinned and added, "Until you were about five years old, you idolized him, didn't you?"

That got me to freeze. Yes, he was right, but I'd never told anyone, not even Gaz. I started wondering if I'd let it slip at all during my talks with Lex, but we'd recently been straying from talking about family ordeals and focusing more on other matters.

"You wouldn't keep copies of _The Origin Of Species_ in every library in the complex otherwise," the Professor went on. God, I hadn't even noticed! Each office had a library, and there were libraries in the dorms as well. Dad's favorite book... it was really that present..? "Nor, I believe, would you continue bothering to keep your hair that way."

I was struck silent, unsure of what to think. Everyone around me was still so secretive, and their cryptic knowledge was starting to get to me. I didn't become annoyed around the Professor, though I couldn't tell why. For a moment, we remained still, in silence, each of us studying the other.

As much as I wanted to continue talking to the Professor about my father and his ridiculously secretive yet all too intriguing past, at present, that didn't seem possible. Oddly, the Professor rose without a sound and looked me over as though I were his own son, then walked around to one of the cabinets under the bookshelf to my left.

"Dib, I think it's time I showed you something," he said, beckoning me over. The cabinet opened to reveal three sliding drawers, all large enough and long enough to hold sheets of cartographic paper. I knealt beside the Professor as he pulled out the top drawer.

"What is this?" I wondered.

He laughed a little. "Be patient. It was by no mistake that Charlotte saved this office for me," he began, sifting through the papers until he found a particular one. He set it on top of the others and nodded down to it.

"This is a starchart," I observed, leaning in and looking over the printout closely. "I don't recognize the patterns on it, though."

"It isn't our galaxy," said the Professor knowingly.

"All right, so?"

He chuckled in his throat again and asked me to look through the rest of the drawers. He left me to it, as a matter of fact, going back to reclaim the file he'd found, and went on observing me. I rooted through the piles of papers kept in all three drawers. Mixed among them were floppy discs and CDs, some dated back to 1996, others were as recent as the year Zim had arrived on Earth. There were several more starcharts, some with puncture marks and red streaks.

Then, on the very bottom of the lowest drawer, I found a tiny leather notebook. I flipped through, and the handwriting was clear, precise and familiar. I leafed through the starcharts again and found the same handwriting. My heart skipped as I glanced back at the notebook. It contained notes, dated in the 1980s, containing chemical formulae and some notes from what was labeled as _"Physics 375."_ Glancing at the inside front cover, I found different handwriting; beautiful, calligraphic letters quite similar to Gaz's own script.

_"Charles,"_ it read, _"you'd best not lose this notebook. You can only borrow mine for so long. With love, Miyuki. December 2nd, 1986."_

"Dad's college notebook?" I guessed, my voice coming out on just a low breath. "Then the rest of this is..."

"Your father's paranormal work," the Professor said. I'd half forgotten he was there. "I wanted you to see it, Dib. You take after him so much more than I'm sure you lead yourself to believe."

"Professor..." I began cautiously, "how do you know all these things about me..?"

The Professor smiled almost sadly, and as he walked toward the door, he put a hand on my shoulder and replied, "Easy." More quietly, he told me, "I'm your godfather."

That said, he continued to leave the room. I couldn't believe what I'd just heard. Just how much was anyone here involved in my father's strange past? How well had my parents known the Professor? He'd said that he and my father were colleagues, but they _must_ have been close friends as well. He must have known about the Invasion before any of this began. He knew about my father's work. Why had I never met him before if he was my _godfather?_

"M-my..." I began, then turned, wishing to discuss more with him. "Professor, wait!"

Too late, he was out the door.

I shook my head and looked back at the drawers. I sat there, alone, Dad's notebook clutched in both of my now trembling hands. So much of my respect for my father came back to me right then and there, and I closed my eyes, thinking back as best I could to my early childhood, trying to remember what it was like when my father smiled at me.

Then, my mind took me back to the portrait room, where I'd first discovered the secrets that both of my parents held, the secrets that the world had been hiding from me for so many years. There, I had seen my parents in some form side by side. My parents, Charles Membrane and Tallest Miyuki. It sounded strange, but then I remembered my mother's plaque. Miyuki Isomäki. That had been them before; back when they were together, and in love, unaware of anything that was transpiring now. They had started the Network together.

They must have wanted a truce. They must have wanted something more of the two races. Irken liberation, that was what Miyuki said. Dad must have known. He had to have known...

My eyes burned and I pocketed the notebook, sifting through all of Dad's work again, and that was when it hit me.

"He was looking for her," I said to myself, to be sure that it was the truth. Dad had hardly ever been home when Gaz and I were growing up; he'd always been distant and silent about everything he did, sometimes for months at a time. And we never did learn everything. "He wasn't always working at his lab," I realized, just before I let the tears come. "What the hell, Dad? Half this time, you were just looking for her." I sifted through the starcharts again. "You just wanted her to come home."

– – –

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**Author's Note:**

HIIIII!

Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry about the false lead from last week… I feel awful that I wasn't able to get this chapter prepped in time for Sunday. BUT! I AM going to be posting another chapter tonight! It may not be for another several hours, but it is going up tonight! :3

I enjoy this little vignette… one of my favorite parts of this story is delving into everyone's pasts, and there are soooo many pasts to reveal… :D

This series really means a lot to me, and, everyone, your support is incredible. I'm going to admit something, though, and that is that… I've run out of my buffer on Part Two. I've written so many drafts of it and it has never seemed quite right, so I really want to take my time in making sure that the story finally plays out the way I've always wanted it to. So, sadly, that's a lot of what's making the updating so slow lately… sorry about that! ^^; But I really do want to be publishing (online haha) the best possible edit of the story so that everything flows~ :3 Part Two _is_ nearing its close, but there is a lot still that needs to happen before we can move into Part Three (which I keep saying I'm so excited about because it's really true, heeeee~); these edits are tough, but I'm satisfied with the way the series is flowing now, I hope you are all enjoying the ride!

Seriously, thank you all so so incredibly much for the fantastic reviews and support. I've been super busy lately but will hopefully come round to replying again very soon! And be on the lookout for another (much longer) chapter to go up later-later this evening… but for now, dinner! ^^;

See you **in a few hours! **:3

Much love,

~Jizena

– – –


	20. Field Mission 2: Impatient

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**Author's Note:**

_Invader Zim_ is -c- Jhonen Vasquez! Only the events of this story, characters specific to the story, and character tweaking (heh) are mine. :3

~Jizena~

– – –

_Zim's Records_

The Resisty camp was nothing short of ridiculous. They had chosen a much less conspicuous place to set up camp than I had when I first came to Earth (to my cul-de-sac, they'd set up right there in the woods past the river), but the construction of the base was absurd. So absurd, in fact, that Gaz and I both had to stifle a laugh as soon as we saw it.

Wood was something new to me, as an Irken. Trees don't exist on Irk, or Vort, or, for that matter, any of the other planets the Tallest had mapped out to conquer. So, since they were such a new source of material to work with, none of the Resisty knew how to build with them. We were brought, by that little Vortian on whom I still had the gun trained, to an awful, _awful,_ shanty-type structure: trees snapped and bent over one another to form what basically looked like one giant woodpile, with branches jutting out every which way, and an eight-foot opening in the front to function as the door. It was absolutely pathetic. In fact, minus the attacks on random civilians, much about the Resisty was pathetic.

So far, the mission was too easy, though, and that was bothering me. I'd been there the night of the crash... I knew that these guys were capable of more than just an awful waste of resources. Dozens of people had been admitted to the hospital. Purple had even told me that, based on his and Red's observations, the severity of the wounds inflicted was not something we could overlook. Whatever their motives were, the Resisty clearly did not value humans as potential allies. I thought again about the reporter from the first attack, and made a dire mental note to contact her as soon as Gaz and I returned.

Our reluctant guide led us through the opening of the shoddy base, which looked much more impressive on the inside. A large, cylindrical generator stood at the center of what became an octagonal room, and wires branching out like a thick spiderweb supplied energy to computers of varied sizes around the treetrunk walls—all of which were outdated Vortian models. Everything was in a state of general disarray; clearly the surviving group was working with all that could be salvaged from the main ship.

Representatives of the stick-bug species, as so well illustrated in Nacea and Bloodrose's book, manned three of these computer stations, which numbered eight in total, with the remaining five being presided over by Vortians, one of whom was missing an antenna. Sweeping through the large room as well were four of those mysterious cloaked aliens that brought the Mandylion to mind, though these could hardly have been taller than five feet, and I was sure the Mandylion herself nearly reached six.

At the back of the room, in one of the points of the octagon, was a large maroon command chair; to the left of it stood the lumbering, three-headed creature I'd run into that first night. In the light of the room, I could better make out its pale yellow skin and its three vacant expressions, but looking at it reminded me of how easily ancient Irken words had spilled out of me when I'd commanded it to back off. Hopefully nothing like that would happen around Gaz, but I'd already slipped into a flash sequence once. There was no telling what else could happen.

Our target himself was seated right in that chair, looking focused but hardly professional... the Resisty leader: Lard Nar.

My back, where those PAK scars crossed, stung a little as we approached the leader in his chair, and I tensed without knowing exactly why. As far as my own memory served, I had no history with Lard Nar. My memory, however, was not the best source to retrieve information from. Lard Nar's was a name spoken every now and again, and it was understood that I was somehow connected to him during the time of Miyuki's death. Or murder. Whatever it was. I'd been told a couple of different stories, but the one most widely accepted was that I'd been under Lard Nar's employ at the time, back when he was head of research at Station 7. Station 7 had been all but completely destroyed in the Miyuki disaster (which, so I had been told, was entirely my fault), and was now, along with the rest of Vort and its sattelites, a research prison... yet another acquisition of the Irken Empire, thanks to Invader Larb.

It occurred to me, at that point, that the research prisons were now within Tak's jurisdiction. I figured, too, that it was useless to start questioning whether or not the Resisty had already caught wind of Tak's being the Tallest, since anything I could have asked myself was likely to be answered for me as long as I had an audience with Lard Nar. The crash had happened a few Earth days after Tak had activated the Cabochon and the true Tallest and I had been abandoned, so it was likely that the rest of the Empire was at least aware of the awful paradigm shift, if not worse off for it.

I squared myself in front of Lard Nar, ignoring any and all discomfort from the place where my PAK used to be. As long as it didn't activate inside me, I'd be okay. As long as Gaz was there for me to protect, I'd be able to hold my own. I did start thinking of this mission as a way to sort of step up and prove myself to her. Small talk wasn't my thing, as much as Lex insisted on its importance. I had to be fighting for something, awful as it was to think of it that way. But that was what I'd joined the Corporation for. To protect her, and to protect this planet. To protect everything that had made me feel like I finally had a purpose.

"Ah!" Lard Nar began, as his underling walked us closer to the command chair. "Kapi. Welcome back... and I see you've brought more humans for interrogation!"

"Actually, sir..." the Vortian identified as Kapi began, looking nervously behind him and up at not my eyes but the barrel of my gun.

"We're gonna be the ones doing the interrogating," I said firmly, glaring at Lard Nar while keeping the gun trained on Kapi. I noticed some differences in the Resisty leader upon second observation. His appearance was nothing too special, as far as Vortian physicality went... the same thick, curved antennae, the same skinny, jagged, pointed legs, the same purple skin... but something was different this time. Obviously, I remembered something having to do with seeing him in person before, but he'd never had that big red scar across his face prior to this meeting. It looked like a whiplash, dividing his face into halves and giving his right eye a permanent squint. No... that wasn't the Lard Nar I remembered. He was the victim of some kind of attack, and it seemed rather recent.

"How dare you speak to me!" Lard Nar snapped, in his voice that was concentrated primarily at the back of his throat, in what sounded to human ears like a slight accent. "Do you have any idea who I am and what we are?"

"Your name is Lard Nar," I answered, "and your group is the Resisty. You crashed here on Earth, and we, the Swollen Eyeball Corporation, have been sent to bring you in for questioning as to your purpose for coming to Earth."

"Ha!" Lard Nar let out, tilting his head back to appear much higher and mightier than he really was. "Humans are not nearly advanced enough to know our—"

"Look," said Gaz, "we know you're a rebel group against the Irkens, and _we're_ against the Irkens, too, so just shut up, stop trying to sound like you're this amazing rebel force, and just tell us why you attacked humans instead of trying to team up with us against a common enemy."

"Well, we—wait," said Lard Nar, his cockeyed expression changing as soon as he laid eyes on Gaz. "You _know_ about the Irkens?"

I cleared my throat when Gaz glanced up at me to help her answer. It sucked, having to play the Invader card, but if we were going to get anywhere, I needed to. "Yeah," I said. "You were looking for Invader Zim?"

"Yes..."

"So, what the hell do you want?"

"Invader Zim!" Lard Nar shouted.

"Right. _I'm_ Zim. So what the hell?"

Lard Nar leapt up into his chair and shouted, "I don't care if you have the same name, human, I need to speak to the Invader! Are you stupid?"

"Are _you?"_ I snapped. Honestly.

"You're human!"

"Right, and that requires a bit of explanation, but—"

"Wait a minute!"

"Oh, my God, this guy's an idiot," Gaz grumbled beside me. "Can we get this over with fast?"

"My thoughts exactly," I agreed, rolling my eyes. As formidable as they'd seemed during the initial attack, the Resisty were still all tricks and no substance. "Whoever you want," I shouted at Lard Nar, "whatever you're actually against, I'm kind of under orders to bring you in, Lard Nar!"

"How do you know my name?" he yelped.

"Seriously? I just told you, _I'm Zim!"_

"Is your whole _race_ this stupid?" Gaz chided, drawing her daggers again.

The drawing of her weapons caught the Resisty leader's attention, and all of a sudden, his eyes widened—the best they could behind that scar—and for a moment, the Vortian looked almost threatening.

"There!" Lard Nar shouted, pointing in our direction. "That's the one! Resisty! Formation, just as we practiced!"

"Huh, you actually practiced something?" I scoffed, charging up the Vortian gun. "Finally figured out I'm the one you're after, eh?"

"Not you, I have no idea who you are," Lard Nar refuted.

"God, you're infuriating!" I spat at him. "What were you talking about, then?"

The little Vortian grinned, stood straight up in his command chair, and set his glowing eyes, pale green behind a pair of pilot's goggles, on Gaz. She was not a person who was known to show fear, but for an instant, Gaz looked almost terrified. We were not up against a threat that amounted to much—in fact, in my opinion, I considered the Resisty kind of a warm-up to what we could expect from the real war that would break out—so I didn't think that she'd have even a second to consider the fact that Lard Nar was someone formidable. Then again, there was a lot Gaz had been silent about lately...

"Formation, now!" Lard Nar ordered his troops.

Each and every member of the Resisty, now so dwindled in number, circled around us, the taller ones forming an outer edge, with the shorter ones closing in the full, tight form. "This is almost too easy," I made the point to comment. "Lard Nar, you are striking out against Earth, right?"

"Of course! Because we have to destroy—"

"That's all I had to hear."

Before Gaz could draw her daggers again, I reached over and took her wrist; giving it a light, reassuring squeeze, I said, for her ears only, "Let's do this." In response, she let out a small, simple, sweet laugh, and then I made sure our contact ended before I fired the first shot.

A Vortian was down immediately; the rest of the aliens scrambled for their weapons, but the formation was so simple, I had another four offed and on the ground with the next few shots. The worst thing about the Vortian gun that I was using (other than the fact that it was a gun at all, and that it was still of Empire influence), was that it needed recharging after five shots. Then again, I was able to turn that into an advantage, since now the shorter ones were down, and I could attack those closer to my height hand-to-hand.

Gaz had crouched herself into a stance lower to the ground, and she moved easily, with light, trained steps forward and back, side to side, striking each chance she got while staying on the defensive. I remembered that about her from the little spar we'd had during the Warp: Gaz preferred defensive stances, even though her attacks, once she decided to go for it, did some pretty great damage. And she was inflicting more than enough damage on her opponents that day. The Vortian with a missing antenna was robbed of his remaining one with a single slice of one of her daggers, and without them both he ceased to function.

Despite seeing us cut through underling after unprepared underling, Lard Nar did nothing. He screamed like the coward he was, but did not raise a hand to help. His scarred face was frozen in terror, even though I felt as if Gaz and I were sort of fighting for show.

That little scuffle, as it could hardly be called a battle by any means, gave me a little more respect for several people around me. Dib. The Tallest. Even General Brakem. No, I personally did not want to be branded a soldier forever, but it was the rare breed of strategist I had to admire. Dib had sent out groups based on expertise, and had indeed trusted me enough to send me out with the most important mission. Trusted me with his sister's safety. Annoying as the guy was, I had to admire that a little.

Not that Gaz needed too much protecting, of course. That girl could _fight._ This warm-up was actually a great test to how well our individual strengths could combine. She would wound the Resisty soldiers and shove them in my direction; I quickly learned each species weak points and could take out with a single shot the ones Gaz didn't dispose of herself. I kept my eye, however, primarily on her and Lard Nar. He'd targeted her specifically, so I wasn't ruling out some sort of surprise attack.

And indeed it came. As I was caught between all four of the cloaked aliens, some of the only soldiers left, the three-headed creature entered the fight. Now, I was confident enough that I could hold my own against just about anything, but those cloaked aliens' similarities to the Mandylion were disturbing. If she was at all associated with them, I was not comfortable attacking blindly. I had to know more about her. I had to try to keep these few alive.

Of course, that idea left my head the second the three-headed drone went up against Gaz. She slashed out the eyes of the two heads on the beast's shoulders, which set the thing into a rage, and his retaliation came in the form of a brutal strike to her collarbone.

"Gaz!" I cried out, fully surrounded by those mysterious cloaked beings at the time that she took the hit. Her defense down, Gaz choked from the attack and stumbled backward.

I kicked one of my opponents in what I believed was its face and tossed it into one of the computers on the other side of the room, then managed to turn and catch Gaz before she could fall completely to the pine needle-covered floor. "You okay?" I asked her, frantically.

After she'd coughed to catch her breath, Gaz said in a near snarl, "I'm fine, but that thing can really strike."

"Not anymore," I decided, holding up the Vortian gun. It had charged plenty by this point, and, as much as I hated using the thing, it was going to do just what it was designed for.

But another came. Another flash. My back suddenly felt as if it had caught fire, while the rest of me suffered a terrifying chill. A sting hit my chest and the whirring charge of the gun resounded as a shock throughout my body, echoing in my ears and blinding my present vision. The flash was far, far too real this time... it intruded upon my present life, whereas before, I watched only memories. Once again, ancient Irken words snarled their way out of my mouth, distorting my voice, and I was unable to stop myself from speaking words I could not understand but somehow extracted meaning from:

_"You framed me."_

My finger stiffened on the trigger, and it was almost as if a will other than my own pulled. The creature in the flash escaped attack, but a blink later and I was seeing the present day, just in time to watch myself blast the third head clean off.

Disgusted, I tossed the gun aside and helped Gaz up so that we both were standing, while the wasted alien fell sightless to the ground and silently passed away. Nothing about this mission had seemed right from the beginning. I'd have to talk to the Tallest about it. Hell, I'd have to talk to the Tallest _period._ Regardless of anything else. Red and Purple knew plenty that they weren't telling me, and I had a feeling that if I ever wanted those fucking flashes to stop, I had to tell them about it.

Because, God, I wanted to put off telling Gaz as long as possible.

As soon as we were standing, Gaz turned to look up at me in awe and alarm. "What was that?" she wondered.

"What?" I asked, hoping to avoid the subject.

"That... whatever you just said?"

"It—it was—"

"HOW DARE YOU?" Lard Nar screamed, saving me from answering just yet.

"Well," I snapped at him, "that's what you get for setting such a weak army against us, especially her!" Beside me, Gaz's expression became one of flushed confusion, and she added nothing.

Lard Nar, looking almost enraged, leapt off of his chair and strode toward us, coming up to just above my knees; a Vortian of below-average height. That scar across his face still intrigued me—I wasn't ruling Tak out as a reason for it. "Get out of here!" he shouted, making a sweeping motion with one blue-gloved hand toward the horribly-built exit.

"I don't think so," I snarled down at the nuisance. "You're coming with us."

"I'm not going anywhere until someone brings me Invader Zim!"

Someone please tell me I was never all that stupid.

Before I could argue with him any further, Gaz brought one heavy boot down on Lard Nar's head, which swiftly knocked him unconscious. "I'M SO SICK OF PEOPLE BEING IDIOTS!" she screamed. Grabbing at her lovely violet hair, she rattled on, "Everyone around me is being so fucking stupid! Dib's being a jerk, the Tallest are assholes, you just said something in a language I've never heard in my life, this guy's a numbskull, Dad's horrible and there are too many Goddamn secrets!"

"Gaz," I tried, "calm—"

"I can't calm down until someone gives me a good reason why everything has to be _so fucked up!"_

Thinking of nothing else I could possibly do, I stepped up to her and hugged her close. She struggled and attempted to keep screaming, but I refused to let go. "If I had the answer to how things could get fucked up," I said, "believe me, Gaz, I'd tell you. Can I say something? We're kind of together in this."

"What're you talking about?"

"There's plenty the Tallest aren't telling me, either."

Gaz heaved out a long, agitated groan, then relaxed against me; the lilac scent of her hair wafted through the air around us, and the chill that had overtaken me earlier subsided. A few seconds in, Gaz loosely wrapped her arms around my waist, and buried her head in my chest... it was kind of adorable how much shorter she was than she'd been during the Warp. I was kind of hoping—excited, really—to be close to her as she grew.

As we stood there together, the cloaked aliens did not attack. In fact, once we stepped back, I noticed that they'd gone. Hopefully Dib wouldn't hate me for that... though I couldn't see how he could be angry at me for anything, since we'd be bringing Lard Nar back with us.

But Gaz and I made a little pact that early, early morning. That, even if there were things we currently had to keep from each other, we'd once again help each other through whatever came. That we would distract each other from the insanity and secrecy around us. Security for the sake of security.

Trust. The one part of a human soul I knew.

– – –

Oh, Dib was _beyond_ surprised when we returned that morning. I believe what he said upon seeing the unconscious Lard Nar was, "Holy shit!" I took that as a good thing. And, hell, I sure had earned his trust and momentary respect.

The Vortian was locked up in the portion of one building that was reserved to be a holding cell. It sort of bothered me, since I was sure, had things worked out differently, one of the segments of that small prison would probably have been reserved for me. Dib admitted, when I accompanied him in locking up Lard Nar, that he was reserving a spot for Tak. When I asked him if any progress had been made in tracking her, he replied, "I kind of got distracted, but I've got a feeling she's not gonna stay away much longer."

We weren't able to talk much after that, but he did make a point to thank and congratulate me before leaving to check in with Lex on further progress made with starchart readings.

The remainder of my day was spent trying to get the Tallest to _stop ignoring me, dammit._ Professor Haynsworth had caught Red in a particularly bad mood, and the thicker-headed of the Tallest was exercizing his vocal chords so much (something about not having to listen to a 'fucking human' tell him what to do or give him orders...) I decided eventually to not start asking him for any answers that day. Purple, though, fully ignored my questions.

"Do you learn ancient Irken in basic training?" I asked him that afternoon.

"That's not really important," was his answer.

"Yeah, it kind of is."

"I don't see how," he shrugged.

I groaned and went for a different approach. "Purple, suppose... just... _suppose_ things from my past started catching up to me..."

He did tense, but his answer was, "I'm... not at liberty to talk about that," and then another awful excuse was made, and he went to attempt to make himself useful elsewhere.

Gaz had been completely justified in screaming out her frustration with secrecy. This was getting ridiculous. An awful unease settled in, and I couldn't shake the discomfort from the Resisty scuffle for the rest of the day. Even evening didn't give me any reprieve. I ended up lying awake in bed for a good hour staring at the ceiling, wondering why the flashes that morning had become so much more intense.

Unable to sleep, I ventured out into the front room, aiming to get to the kitchen for a glass of water or something to help me at least be able to settle down for a little while. All plans shifted, though, when I discovered that I wasn't alone. Gaz was propped up on the sofa in her purple and black pajamas; she leaned up against one of the sofa's arms with her head on a large pillow, and had her knees tucked up as a stand for a thick book she seemed to be about three-quarters of the way through. Rather than turn a light on, she had a small black flashlight clenched between her teeth, and I wondered if that had anything to do with the nature of her book.

"Hey," I greeted softly, taking a few steps toward her.

"Hi," she replied with difficulty, her teeth still clamped around the flashlight.

"What're you reading?"

Gaz bookmarked her place and removed the flashlight from her mouth in order to look up at me, her hair shifting in its low, messy ponytail. "It's Dib's copy," she answered, shining the light on the title of the hardcover. "Kinda weird I'd never read it before."

_The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde._ I'd certainly never heard of it, but if she was willing to explain, I was willing to listen. "I've never read a single book, honestly," I admitted.

"I wouldn't start with this one," Gaz laughed.

"Oh? What should I start with?"

"Something a little less scattered and full of crazy symbolism. Or just something less Victorian." A second later, she pressed her lips together and added, "'Course... that's kinda all I read..."

I grinned and walked closer; as I did, Gaz tucked her legs in and sat straight up, allowing me space to sit beside her. "If so," I said, relaxing onto the middle cushion of the sofa, "I'm sure I'd like it anyway."

"Hmm."

Gaz set her book and flashlight aside, and shifted to be sitting cross-legged. For a moment, she stared straight down, as if afraid to look at me, and I kind of didn't blame her. I'd experienced two flashes that morning... something I'd never wanted her to see, and she hadn't mentioned anything about either of them. Rather than go right for that, though, Gaz started off with a more general topic.

"Did you talk to Lard Nar yet?" she wondered.

"Nah," I laughed, "he's still unconscious. Once he comes to I'll figure out how to talk to him, since that bastard knows something about me that I don't. Can you do me a favor, though, and never kick me in the head as hard as you kicked him?"

Almost surprisingly, Gaz laughed as well. And in an interesting turn, she inched closer, then rested her head on my shoulder. My heart flared up, but I tried not to show that I'd been affected... too much. More than pleased to be granted this moment, I set my arm around her, and she let me pull her in. "Only," said Gaz, "if you promise not to be that much of an idiot."

"Trust me," I grinned, "I'm striving not to be."

"Good."

And for a wonderful, long moment, nothing bothered me. None of the lies and secrecy, none of the flashes and terrors, nothing concerning Tak or the Empire or the Mandylion or how the hell I still had to go about earning a human soul. Gaz nuzzled against my neck, and the two of us just took the time to breathe. No schedules hanging overhead, nothing. Everyone else could deal with the way things had to proceed. But the silence was eventually broken when I heard her voice again in a whisper:

"I wish I could tell you everything."

"Would I be prying too much if I asked you why you feel you can't?" I wondered.

Gaz shook her head into my shoulder, and replied, "It's stupid. It's stupid but it scares me. There's a lot I can't tell you, and it sucks." The conversation then paused, and just as I began wondering what I could possibly say, Gaz added, "I might be able to tell you um... after..."

"After what?"

"After I turn fourteen."

That seemed reasonable. Hope! Nice. "When's that?" I wondered. I hadn't realized that until then, I didn't know Gaz's birthday. After that, though, I never forgot.

"Not till April."

My heart sank a little, but I'd take what I could. October to April was a long time, but I'd been human for two months already, so I'd just have to hope that nothing awful would happen in that span of time. "O-okay," I said. "April what?"

"Twenty-eighth."

"All right," I grinned. "After April twenty-eighth, then."

"Okay," Gaz sighed.

"And until then, what?" I ventured to ask. I turned to look at her, to catch her brown-eyed gaze in the near dark of the room. When she tried to look away, I gently tilted her chin up with my right hand. She'd been evasive for much too long, and was trying to put things off even further. It didn't help that I was a very impatient person, but at least I was being kind about it.

"I don't know," was her answer. "Just..."

"What?"

"Just promise me by then you'll still be human."

It was useless to resist the urge at that point. Before Gaz could answer, I pressed myself against her and kissed her directly. Her lips parted, and I seized the opportunity to extract her taste. Nothing else was said, nothing needed to be; justification would only cheapen the moment. Security, trust, what my conscience told me was right—all of that outweighed anything either of us was up against. I wanted to seek out more and more moments like these, to remind myself of the reasons I wanted to be human at all.

Trust, hate, fear and love, right? That was what it took? Well—

...Something told me, that night, that I was desperately close to earning another component. That much was true, and it certainly wasn't going to be easy.

– – –

– – –

**Author's Notes:**

Yay! ^^ Dinner, a telephone call, a cup of Earl Grey and a packet of Moomin biscuits later and the next post _c'est fini!_ (I'm totally not French so I hope that's right…)

Name note: Kapi, going along with _Invader Zim_ tradition, is another food name... it's Thai shrimp paste! (I'm allergic to shrimp...)

Finally, next week we're going to start moving into the actual revealing of a bunch of secrets, as Part Two's finale begins~! Everyone's hiding something, and I'm so very glad to be getting to the parts at which we begin to find out just what. Professor Haynsworth has certainly revealed something already in today's earlier post, and just about everyone will have some things revealed…

…Maybe even Tak…? :3

Gaaaaaaaaaah thank you all so much again for your excellent readership~! ^^ I seriously hope none of this is getting too confusing. These past three chapters have been a bit frenzied and random, but they will all lead to logic soon enough. Again, next week it'll all start making sense, I promise! XD I've run into such trouble with Part Two because it really is that _Transitions_ phase, but _Memories_ is coming up, and that can only mean, well… exactly what the title implies… :3

Whee~! I'm quite tired, but I'm seriously so happy to start in on the next several posts/edits. Lots and lots of good things coming up, so I shall see you all next **Saturday, September 24****th****! **

Have a lovely week as we officially move into autumn~ (I love autumn best…)

~Jizena

– – –


	21. Secrets 2: Kalleck

– – –

**Author's Note:**

_Invader Zim_ is -c- Jhonen Vasquez! Only the events of this story, characters specific to the story, and character tweaking (heh) are mine. :3

~Jizena~

– – –

_Dib's Records_

The days that followed the Resisty's fall were very crunched together and almost surreal. Surreal in that my mind couldn't seem to stop from being in several different places at once. I insisted upon keeping to my training schedule, which meant that the rest of my days were horribly eaten up with taking care of things on the main business end. On sending out crews to investigate and clear out the base that my sister and Zim had stumbled into, on finalizing conclusive autopsies, on trying to get the leader to say something, _anything._ He wasn't talking. We had the bastard locked up and he wasn't talking. Red offered to get in there and _make_ him talk, but I wasn't ruling out the fact that Lard Nar may still have had troops out there somewhere, and someone as anti-Empire as he was should not have any contact with one of the real Tallest... especially the more argumentative one. We just had to wait it out until he accepted the fact that Zim _really was Zim,_ since he was the only one Lard Nar was interested in speaking to.

I was also starting to lose what little sleep I'd already been getting over wondering what the hell Dad had to be so damn secretive for. I mean, it was one thing, before, that he and his old colleagues didn't speak to each other anymore, but another thing entirely that he had never once told me I even _had_ a godfather, let alone one as inspirational in the field as Professor Haynsworth. When I told Gaz about that, she looked like she was about to go on a rampage and drag Dad to the complex herself. But she and I had an understanding: neither of us would seek him out. We wanted him to realize on his own what awful things he'd done. We wanted Dad to be the one to wake himself up and redeem himself by returning to his paranormal work full time, and admitting to everything that we'd been learning about him. We did wonder, however, if we should send him a copy of the book that Nacea and Bloodrose had been working on that detailed every Resisty species, since apparently Dad had helped the town quite a bit during the initial disaster.

When I met with Nacea, the Haynsworths, Tenn, Zim, my sister and the Tallest to go over the final touches that needed to be added to the final Resisty report, my Meekrob friend tensed upon Gaz's description of the single species we had not yet catalogued. Agent Bloodrose, who had beautifully and accurately illustrated all of the other species, was unavailable during that meeting (which was fine, since the attendees were pretty much my core team anyway... even Zim), so Gaz had tried her hand and drawn a pretty good portrait of the missing species: a small, hooded figure, so well shrouded that only thin, narrow eyes were visible beyond the cloak.

"Nacea," I prompted while she was looking at the drawing, "what's wrong?"

"It's not _that_ bad a drawing," Gaz added. No, in fact, she was pretty good with a pen. But something wasn't settling well with Nacea.

"It... it does not make sense," the Meekrob girl answered, sliding the paper to her right, where Tallest Purple was sitting. "Please," Nacea went on as Purple set the paper between himself and Red, "my Tallest, tell me that is not..."

"Ohhhhh, no, it is," said Red, holding the paper up to the light and uncomfortably adjusting his glasses for the perfect angle of the sketch. "Gotta be."

"Gotta be what?" I wondered.

"It is... a Kalleck," answered Nacea.

"Huh?" The name sounded familiar, but I couldn't remember where from.

"What's that?" Zim asked, which got him some weird looks from the Tallest, Tenn and Nacea. "What? I don't know."

"You do not remember the Kalleck?" Nacea wondered, her ice blue eyes wide in horror. "We Meekrob have lived under the impression that all Irkens are implanted with the memory of..."

"Well," said Zim, sounding put off for the first time that day, "there's a lot I don't remember. So, sorry. I need some catching up."

"Same here," Gaz said before anyone—myself included—could respond to Zim. "If there's a story, obviously I don't know it."

"Nor do we," Professor Haynsworth added for himself and Lex.

Red set Gaz's drawing back on the table, folded his arms, and glared at it for a good half-minute. Before anyone could break the sudden silence, Red exchanged a knowing glance with Purple, who surrendered the honor of explanation to the taller of the two. Honestly, though, I'd been preferring hearing things from Purple. He managed to tell things more like a story than actual, straight history. Red was always blunt and direct; Purple was a little more reserved and removed.

"The Kalleck were a powerful race, up until around, what... a hundred years ago? Longer than that?"

"Hundred and twenty, I think," Purple confirmed, sliding the sketch back over to the space in front of him so he could study it more closely.

"That was back during one of the first big pushes for Empire expansion," Red recalled. "The plan then was just to attack and destroy, no sticking around for resources or anything. Just wipe 'em out, starting with the races that were tagged as probable to rise up against us. So we did just that. The Kalleck are extinct."

"They were scholars," Nacea added in. "They were more likely to retaliate than we Meekrob, but they were not instigators of revolution or violence. They simply collected information and held the universe's secrets in their libraries."

God, Irkens can really suck, huh? "The Kalleck were completely wiped out?" I asked for clarification.

"Yeah, and nobody even really mentions them anymore," said Red. "They're _gone."_

"So where the hell did Lard Nar find them if they've been extinct for years?" I erupted.

"That's something we could ask him," said Zim, "if he ever talks."

"Ugh, he _still_ isn't?" Red groaned. "That little fuck. I hate that guy. I hate Vortians."

"Vortians are responsible for designing half of the Armada," Purple interjected.

"So what? They're still a bunch of little jerks."

_"You're_ a jerk."

"Okay, you're gonna shut up," Red said quickly, pointing to his partner; he then pointed across the table to Nacea and added, "and you, Meekrob... you tell me more. The Kalleck were your sister species, right?"

"They were," Nacea nodded. "We Meekrob are still recovering from the loss in the wake of your Empire's destruction..."

Red's eyes narrowed, and he stood angrily, pounding his hands on the table and leaning over almost as if to attack. Which didn't settle well with me, since Nacea was the most fragile and most peace-loving person at the table. "Let's get one thing clear!" the Tallest shouted. "That wasn't _my_ Empire, then, not yet! I'd've seen 'em as a species worth keeping around, but it wasn't my call, it was _his,_ and you know it. He just gave us marching orders, and that was it. All right? _My_ Empire didn't kill the Kalleck, _Miyuki's did."_

"Miyuki's?" I half-gasped... at the same time Zim did.

"Yeah," said Red, sitting down again. "Miyuki started expansion, but..."

"Right, so why were you saying 'he?'" I wondered.

"Huh?"

"Who's _he?"_ I repeated. "You were saying it was 'his' call and 'his' marching orders. Miyuki is—was," I corrected for Zim's benefit, "kind of... _female."_

"Right, but this was back when—"

"Wait a second..." Zim began, when it seemed like Red was going to start talking around in circles about Irken history, "apparently Lard Nar wanted to speak to me about something involving Miyuki. If I could just find out what that was, because these Kalleck are starting to intrigue me..."

"Then," said Professor Haynsworth, "make him talk."

"Not that easy, sir, as much as I wish it could be," said Zim, rather apologetically. Seriously, when did that guy learn how to be polite? I didn't understand Zim, and I didn't really want to, but he did keep surprising me (and luckily in ways that did not involve revealing that he actually was still planning on destroying my planet).

"So what do we do?" I asked everyone at the table. "Torture Lard Nar, or what?"

"Torture is taking things too far!" Nacea scolded me.

"Man, I'd punch that guy all day and I _still_ doubt he'd talk," Tenn said, sounding highly dissatisfied.

"And even attempting to lie and tell him that I'm in hologram would probably not work," Zim offered.

"Maybe if me and Tenn _both_ beat him up," Gaz muttered.

"Be my guest," I said, "but we need something that'll _work."_

"How about we just blow up Vort?" Red suggested, sounding bored.

"No," I said, "see, you kind of basically _did_ that, and all it did was piss him of."

"I still see nothing wrong with it."

"Whatever! Any other ideas?" I wondered.

The room fell silent for a few minutes, and then, finally, Purple sighed and, aggravated, brushed his purple bangs temporarily out of the way of his right eye, and asked, "Nobody's seeing it, are they?"

"Seeing what?" Lex asked.

_"Honestly?"_ Purple pressed.

"What're you talking about?" I wondered.

"Really simple solution, people!" Purple shouted to the room, slapping a hand against the table before gesturing to all of us with both outstretched arms. "I've been waiting to see if anyone came to this conclusion on their own, but it's been kinda useless so far, so I'll just say it."

"What?" Zim wondered.

"Lard Nar won't talk to anyone but you, right?" Purple asked him.

"Or maybe one of you," Zim shrugged.

"Okay, but he doesn't believe it's you because you look human, right?"

"Yeah."

"SO BLINDFOLD HIM."

_"Ooohhhhh."_

I just started laughing, which got me a scathing look from Zim, but I didn't care. Yes, the plan was stupid and obvious, _incredibly_ stupid and obvious, and no, I hadn't thought of Purple's solution myself either, but that wasn't the point. The point was that _Zim_ hadn't thought of it, and it was therefore funny. "Dib, shut up," he said plainly.

Across the table, Lex actually started laughing as well, though she once again covered her mouth as she did. "See?" I grinned, glad to have someone on my side. "It's funny!"

Zim groaned and leaned against the table, running his hands through his hair. Just as Tenn joined in. "No, come _on!"_ he snapped at her.

"What?" Tenn shrugged, "It is."

"Is it honestly that simple?" Lex wondered.

"You have no idea," Purple answered. "Those Vortians are _idiots."_

"Okay!" I laughed. "Plan made. Tenn, Zim, you guys go ahead and do that during the holding cell's open hours tomorrow. Thanks for that, sir," I added for Purple's benefit. "We needed that."

He groaned and rolled his purple eyes. "Did you really just call me that?" he muttered.

"Huh? Oh, sorry."

"Whatever," said Purple, sliding back away from the table and rising, "just... you're welcome, and don't say it anymore. Zim, good luck."

"Yeah," Red added, standing as well and, as usual, instantly towering over his partner, "and Tenn, keep it up and I'll _consider_ promotion if you come back."

"Oh _joy,"_ Tenn quipped back. "Like I'm really doing any of this for _you."_

Red muttered something I couldn't hear, but which probably wasn't the nicest thing ever, then turned to follow Purple out of the room. Before he could leave, however, Professor Haynsworth rose and said sharply, "Tallest Red."

"What?" Red wondered without turning to give the Professor his attention. "What _now?"_

"Why is it that..."

_"What?"_ Red snarled. He did turn this time and gave the Professor an awful glare, which got him to back off. "If you don't have interesting questions, _quit bothering me."_

"I mean no disrespect," said the Professor, "but the way you speak and react does seem to reveal that you're hi—"

"Listen, you don't interest me," said the Tallest sharply. "I don't have to talk to people who don't interest me. Especially people who don't leave me the fuck alone."

"Excuse me!" Lex shouted, leaping to her feet and storming right up to the Tallest. I found myself standing as well a second later—knowing Red, it was very likely that he'd strike her if she said anything to provoke him (which didn't take a lot, no matter who was talking to him), and so help me, if one of the Tallest actually attacked someone from the Corporation...

But Red wasn't the one to move. Lex jabbed one index finger directly into Red's sternum, glaring up at him without fear, and warned, "Don't you ever speak that way to my father! You've no respect or appreciation for his work or intelligence, so I'd suggest not saying another word until you can learn some respect!"

"Uh... Lex..?" I tried to warn her. "I wouldn't..."

"Hmf," she let out, turning away from Red and folding her arms sternly. "I've no respect for the disrespectful. Emperor or no." Glaring back up at Red, she added, "Leave my father alone until you can say something _nice_ for once."

"Whatever," was all the Tallest said before he finally left.

Lex scowled after him, then shook her head and threw her hands up in the air. "I tried!" she lamented.

"There's little to no reasoning with him," I offered, walking over to her for support, "don't worry about it. You were doing something nice, you were doing the right thing, but Red just doesn't get that."

"He never has," Zim and Tenn added, practically in sync.

Professor Haynsworth walked over toward us, then, and drew his daughter in for a hug. Lex returned it, and before she could speak, her father drew back and said, smiling as always, "I appreciate what you were trying to do, darling, and I thank you for it. But I'm sure Red has his reasons for being stubborn and angry..."

"I'm gonna go ahead and doubt that," Zim put in as he stood.

"Either way," said the Professor, patting Lex's shoulder, "we'll all continue to get on as best we can. All right?"

"All right," Lex sighed.

At that point, we all figured the meeting was more or less over, and began to disperse. Zim struck up a conversation with Tenn and Nacea in hopes of learning more about the Kalleck race. Nacea was shaken—rightfully so—and thanked Gaz for her illustration before leaving, adding on something else about needing to contact the Meekrob Chairman, Xeer, with the news that some Kalleck were possibly still alive. Gaz then started in on setting the room back in place, and once the Professor left, I caught Lex in a brief conversation.

"Hey," I said before she could go, "that was... really nice of you, by the way."

"What?" she wondered.

"I don't know, you sticking up for your father like that," I told her. "It's not something I can, y'know, really relate to, so... I don't know, it's nice to see someone as attached to their dad as you are. I'm kinda jealous."

"Well, he's all I've got, really," said Lex, accepting my rather awkward compliment. "You'd defend Gaz in an instant, wouldn't you? It's the same thing."

"Sure... yeah, I get that," I realized. "You were just awesome to go up against _Red_ like that..."

"Please," Lex almost laughed, _"somebody's_ got to. He's ridiculous."

"Ridiculous and intimidating."

"Well," Lex shrugged, "Machiavelli wrote that it's better for a leader to be feared than loved, and it seems Red's of that cut." She started to leave, then stopped herself and added, "I'm glad you're not, though."

"Huh?"

"You've become a good leader," she complimented me, "but you still make time for everyone. I'm glad for that."

"Well... I'm glad you think so," I grinned. Lex then stopped herself from smiling too broadly, and gave both of us a wave before heading out of the room.

– – –

"That was so lame," Gaz scolded me as we left the Board room together.

"What?"

"How obviously you and Lex were flirting in there."

_"What?"_ I yelped, feeling myself burn up with nerves. "We absolutely were not!"

"Whatever, Dib," Gaz groaned. "How's Nacea feel about all that?"

"Lex and I aren't flirting!" I protested.

"The more you say it, the less I believe you."

"Well—"

"Dib, be quiet," Gaz commanded, stopping to glare up at me. "Just _think_ about it. Do you like Nacea?"

"I—well, I mean, she teaches me a lot—"

"Do you like _Tenn?"_

"Why are you accosting me like this?" I asked, hoping to avoid all other questions. Probably due to the fact that I didn't want to admit to anything.

"Do you like Tenn, Dib? It's a yes or no question."

"No it isn't, because, I mean, I like her, but not like... like people _like..."_

"Now, how about _Lex?"_

Before I could stop myself, words kind of spilled out of me: "We get along, she's _human,_ she's really dedicated to her work, she's kinda pretty and she's a good musician! But that doesn't mean I—"

Gaz held up both of her hands and kept giving me an awful look that usually meant she was going to beat me up. This time, though, she went instead for just beating something into me. An idea, more than anything. "Look," she said. "I know you said you didn't want to get into anything, but at this point, Dib, maybe you should. At least try it or something."

I swallowed down a lump in my throat, which had formed out of the fear that my sister was going to drop-kick me if I said anything wrong in the next few minutes, and ran through what she'd said in my mind a couple times before asking her, "Why are you encouraging this?"

My sister sighed, folded her arms, and admitted, "Honestly... because you need to chill out more. A _lot_ more."

"Look, I've eased up on Zim, haven't I?" I said to defend myself, walking around her to get back out into the front of the building. "Is that what this is about?"

"Not this time, Dib, no," Gaz pressed, directly at my heels. "All I'm saying is... ugh, never mind. You _know_ what I'm saying, you're just ignoring it."

I groaned, but didn't respond. Oh, I knew what she was saying; I knew damn well. She was saying that there were three girls on the complex with whom I spent a lot of time, and for each of whom I had some genuine affection. Affection that was there, but that I ignored. With Tenn, it was more kind of a respect than anything. I appreciated how strongly attached to her morals she was, and how much she was helping out... not to mention how well she carried herself as an individual, even with the Tallest around—the two she still had it out for more than almost anyone else. With Nacea... I didn't even know where to start. I'd told her no a few times... she'd told me no a few times. We just kind of... were close. And she really had taught me a lot. Hell, we were connected because of the Meekrob skills she'd granted me. But she felt like a family member because of that. Speaking of family, though—I didn't seem to be finding anything weird with the fact that Professor Haynsworth was my godfather and that at the same time I didn't feel like Lex needed to be viewed as a 'god-sister' or anything like that. I did like her. I'd come to like her, anyway, thanks to our talks, thanks to her hard work... how well she was tolerating and even enjoying studying a subject (extraterrestrials) she'd never cared about before, how she gave it her all during fights, spars and field practice. How she'd made me really think about music again; how she kept me grounded.

But, hell, I was not ready to admit to any of that. Not to Lex, not even to my sister. Hardly even to myself. Because hadn't I kept on saying it? I didn't have time to start anything, or even wonder. I didn't want to start anything. Of course, that was Gaz's very argument. That I really was putting work before anything else, and that didn't make me any better than Dad.

Fine, I decided. I'd admit that the feelings were there, and that the idea was there. But I wasn't ready to say any more than that, especially out loud. Regardless of whether or not I actually did want to start anything (or at least ask the questions, just in case...), I'd wait until I was ready to say... whatever it was I had to say.

So I began doing something I'd never really done before:

I began procrastinating.

– – –


	22. Transitions Finale 1 or Fragment 2: Hate

– – –

**Author's Note:**

_Invader Zim_ is -c- Jhonen Vasquez! Only the events of this story, characters specific to the story, and character tweaking (heh) are mine. :3

~Jizena~

– – –

_Zim's Records_

Purple's idea was too easy and perfect a suggestion to pass up. The day after the meeting, I took a black cloth into the holding cell, bringing, as per order, Tenn along with me to provide assistance and narration. It was dumb, but it would work. Lard Nar was just stupid enough to buy it, but I had to play along. It was kind of weird, though... playing 'myself.' I'd have to sound convincingly Irken, plus attempt to reproduce exactly how I'd spoken and interacted as an Invader. Honestly, something was telling me that I'd not always been as inept as I'd been during my years as an Invader, prior to becoming human...

When we got to the prison area, I let Tenn in first, and we went over the basic plan, though the general consensus was that we'd wing it and just try not to laugh. I handed the black cloth off to her, thus giving her the extreme pleasure of blindfolding Lard Nar as soon as we made it to his cell. The Vortian had a single small area to himself, in which all he had was a chair and a memo pad (the writing utensils for which were kept with the guards) in case he felt like communicating; Tenn blindfolded him and yanked him out of the cell with ease.

"What is this?" the irate Vortian demanded, though he hardly put up a struggle.

"I've got someone here for you to talk to," Tenn said. "He's locked up, too, and we only let prisoners talk to each other when blindfolded." She then glanced back at me and mouthed, _Now what?_

I shrugged and made a circular motion with my index finger pointed downward, to indicate that she just walk him around about to give him the illusion of movement. Tenn rolled her eyes and mouthed, _Really? _I just made a shrugging motion toward Lard Nar, then mouthed back,_ He's fucking crazy, he won't know._ Tenn stuck her tongue out in utter disgust and disapproval, but proceeded to go through with the embarrassing scheme. She even added in some, "Watch your step," comments as Lard Nar let her march him around, and his awkward steps were enough to make us both have to stifle laughs.

After a good minute, Tenn finally stopped him in front of me. I hauled the chair out of Lard Nar's cell and cuffed him into it, then squatted down to his level in hopes of finally getting some damn answers.

"Zim," said Tenn, as rehearsed, "you've got a visitor."

"Is it that awful _Dib_ again?" I asked, playing up (and pitching up) the tone of my voice in order to mask its now distinctive human qualities.

Lard Nar bought it, hook, line and sinker, and he grinned. "Finally," he said, in that awful nails-on-a-chalkboard voice. "I've been waiting to talk to you."

"Lard Nar!" I began, once again throwing my voice overzealously. A glance and nod from Tenn let me know I was on the right track. "Imagine hearing that rotten voice of yours again."

"The feeling is mutual, Irken scum," he bit back. "Is it not true you've been a recent comrade of the new Tallest, Tak?"

"Not exactly. Why?"

"Oh, I was just about to have you thank her for this _scar_ on my face! Do you _see this?"_

"No," I lied, while staring right at the thing, "I'm blindfolded."

"Oh. Right."

Tenn glared at me to let me know she was already bored, and, no, I wasn't having the most fun either, so I plowed through to the next question: "What brings you to Earth, Lard Nar?"

"You, Zim!" Lard Nar shouted. "In the years since I built up my Resisty, to oppose the Irken Empire, my goals have always been the same: take down that Empire, and get rid of _you_ once and for all!"

"Me?" I yelped, almost breaking out of my put-on tone. "What'd I do?"

Lard Nar's long, thin mouth stretched into an unsettling sneer, and seeing it set off a quick stab of pain in my back, between my shoulderblades. Shit... shit, no, I couldn't deal with a PAK reminder now. Not a flash. Nothing like that—I had to get through this interrogation. "I see," Lard Nar said, his tone going, somehow, incredibly dark, "you still can't remember. How sad for you. And how fortunate for me."

"Don't be callin' yourself fortunate," Tenn growled at him, smacking Lard Nar upside the head. "You're still the one tied up in the chair."

"Yes, but I'm not the only one out there who recalls Zim's greatest crime to the Empire. What a day that was for us Vortians! Hah!" Lard Nar tilted his head back to laugh, and the sound was so unnerving I wanted to punch him.

I refrained for the time being, though, and growled, "If this is about the day I killed Tallest Miyuki, tell me everything you know, Lard Nar. Tell me _now."_ Tenn made a quick slicing motion across her neck to let me know that I wasn't doing a very good job of disguising my voice anymore, but at this point, Lard Nar was so wrapped up in his secret that he wasn't noticing, or didn't care.

"All Irkens remember that day," said Lard Nar, cocking his head in different directions as if to watch the scene on a screen behind me, despite his blindfold. "All but you, of course. Wasn't that touching, wasn't that _cowardly,_ to erase every minute of the life you knew. Tell me, Zim, was it worth it?"

"I wouldn't know," I snarled.

"Hah! Of course," grinned the Vortian. "Truth be told, Zim, I'm glad to find you stuck here on this prison of a planet—"

_"You're the one in fucking prison!"_ I shouted, my hands just itching, now, to strike him down. "Look, if there's nothing you can tell me about what I did or about Miyuki, at least tell me how you came to find—"

"Do you know why," Lard Nar interrupted me, "that new Tallest attacked me directly the first time we Resisty went up against her Empire?"

I could take several guesses, and I knew they'd all be right, but just to cut to the point of the question, I simply came back with, "Why?"

"Because she still remembers the events of that day." He then grinned, and added, "Someday, I'm sure she'll kill you for it."

That was something else that had never seemed to add up in my head: Tak's motive. Her reasons for revenge seemed to keep on changing, but perhaps they were all linked. Of course it was probable that it could all be boiled down to what happened on the day Miyuki was killed, but were all of these separate events really all part of one large thing? It seemed like I could very easily find myself at the very center of some kind of conspiracy, some kind of cover-up. But to protect what, though? Me from my past? Me from some other truth yet to be learned..?

"What _happened?"_ I hollered. "Fucking hell, Lard Nar, what exactly happened? I've been told different stories, I've been forced to believe dozens of different things—"

"Then continue to believe that you disposed of Tallest Miyuki," said Lard Nar. "Since her disappearance is indeed your fault."

My heart skipped. His continued smirk told me that he'd changed his choice of words for a reason. _Disposed of. Disappearance._ Not _murder,_ not _death—_but_ disappearance._ It couldn't have been that easy, could it? That the secret being most guarded...

...Was that I hadn't killed her at all?

"Is she still alive?" I dared to ask. Lard Nar's cracked grin only got wider, and my mind went crazy. If I had erased myself out of guilt for killing Miyuki, it could all have been for nothing if it turned out she was still alive. Because I did not remember, I had never bothered to consider that option. The story was that I had killed her (because I was insane, the story usually went) and was branded a criminal the rest of my life. I'd doomed myself to that existence most likely in a moment of weakness just after the murder itself had occurred. But if she was still alive...

...If Tallest Miyuki was still alive, what did that mean for me? What did that mean for the Empire? For Red and Purple, for Tak, hell, even for Earth?

"Lard Nar!" I snapped. "Is Miyuki still alive?" Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tenn wince. "Tell me _this instant!"_

"Oh, Zim, I wish I could see the look on your face right now!" Lard Nar howled.

"Fine!"

"Wait—" Tenn tried, "Zim, if you—"

Too late, I was furious. Unable to hold back, I ripped off Lard Nar's blindfold and shoved him back against his seat. He screamed when he saw me, so I finally got in that long-repressed punch across the face, in order to shut him up.

"But you're—" Lard Nar began, looking up at me in horror.

"I'm human and I'm staying this way!" I shouted at the Vortian. "This is me, Lard Nar... _I'm_ Zim, and I've got different goals than I did before, so don't you go assuming I've still got loyalties to the Empire!"

"Hu-human..?" Lard Nar repeated, as if saying the word for the first time. His eerie eyes narrowed, and he leaned forward, making damn sure I got a good look at the scar across his face. "In that case, I'm glad," he growled, darkening his tone again. "A shortened lifespan and a body doomed to decay? That's more than I could've asked for, for someone like you. Accept it, then, Zim! Accept it, and die, and if your past catches up to you, I'll be here watching as it _tears you apart!"_

A violent sting shot through my back; another jolted like lightning by way of the gaping laceration on my upper right arm. I cried out, unable to ignore the sudden pain; I had no time to even wonder where it had come from, what had caused it. But my vision went black, as another off-colored flash settled into the back of my mind, nesting there like a parasite, a leech, an unwelcome ghost in a renovated home. My mind was human, my body was human, I had one-quarter of a human soul, and yet those flashes from the segment of my life I didn't remember persisted now worse than ever. They wouldn't leave me alone. Yet I hadn't sought help. I thought I could handle it.

_"Don't you realize what you've done?"_ I heard Lard Nar's voice say from somewhere within the memory. "_If only you hadn't lashed out! By disposing of that Creature, you've killed Tallest Miyuki!"_

Static—_static—static—_and then a voice that resembled mine: _"NO! Not Miyuki, I would never—"_

"AND I DIDN'T!" I roared, without knowing why. My hands seemed to move on their own, and they both found their way to Lard Nar's neck. In a simply disturbing display, Lard Nar began laughing. "You want to exit this existence laughing, Lard Nar?" I snapped. "Tell me the truth!"

"Looks like you're well on your way!" Lard Nar said, carrying on. "This is better than any of the tortures so far! Truth or lie, Zim, _truth or lie?_ What will you believe the next time you hear the story?"

_"DID I KILL MIYUKI OR NOT?"_ I screamed at him. "TELL ME!"

"Guilty or innocent, does it really matter?" he sneered.

_ "Shut up and give me answers!"_

The Vortian set his eyes directly on mine, and only a part of me heard him say, "I was wondering if I'd ever see _you_ again."

That was when I all but lost control. _Static—static—_it was as if I was living directly in one of those flashes. I opened my mouth to speak, without knowing that I still had anything to say. The words escaped from somewhere deep, deep inside me, more scathing than anything I had said in recent memory—deep and resonant with that ancient Irken tone: "I hate you, you disgusting Vortian. I hate you, and mark my words, I will kill you."

Lard Nar just kept on laughing, and I, still only half in control, knocked the wind right out of him by supporting myself on the back of the chair and kneeing him right in the chest. He slumped over, and I heard something break, but he was still alive.

For now.

"Damn," Tenn commented, giving me a wide-eyed, almost nervous stare. "Where'd that come from?"

I managed to snap myself out of it, and back into my current reality. I looked the unconscious Lard Nar over and stood back, then let Tenn do whatever she had to in order to uncuff the Vortian and toss him back into his cell. I left, after we nodded an understanding to each other that we'd talk about what I could only think to describe as an outburst, and stood outside in the crisp, gold autumn... a beautiful time indeed for this planet, even if at present I could not find any ways to enjoy it.

I had snapped. I had lost control. That much was true, and Tenn had seen the whole thing. My arm stung horribly, the crossed scars on my back throbbed with each heavy heartbeat.

Nothing Tenn ended up saying was the least bit comforting, even though she did show compassion. My eyes, she confided in me, had gone momentarily red. I hadn't been acting like myself... at least not the self I was putting so much into developing. When I asked Tenn if she could shed any light on the Miyuki issue, she admitted that she did not know the truth, as she was never allowed to know. But at least she promised to keep silent about what had happened.

I spent the rest of the day figuring out how to stop an outburst like that from happening again. Sleep that night was restless and dark. One thing plagued my mind above all else:

If the life I'd erased began catching up with me now... how would it start to impede on the goal I'd set for myself? How was I ever going to earn a soul?

– – –

The following morning, when Tenn was on duty to check the holding cell, Lard Nar was found dead. Suffocated. The body was brought to autopsy, where Red, Purple, and the resident Corporation doctors took a look at it. When the doctors could deduce nothing, having such a small grasp of Vortian anatomy (what they knew was derived from Nacea's reports and the first Resisty attack), Purple declared, and Red confirmed after another look over, that it looked self-inflicted. That suffocation was the only possible way Lard Nar could have killed himself. Dib, Gaz, and the rest of the Corporation bought that as the cause of death, and the body was given over for preservation and future tests if needed.

But Tenn and I were doubtful. Lard Nar had been intent on seeing the Empire destroy itself... on seeing Tak go up against me, at seeing how well I dealt with mortality. Lard Nar had wanted so badly to watch me die. There was no way he'd killed himself. Of course, I'd had an awful _dream,_ but I had to hope that I hadn't done the deed myself in the midst of one of those flashes... that I hadn't blacked out and done something horrible.

Tenn tried to assure me that there would have been eyewitnesses if that were the case, and I took her words into consideration. But I was going to be careful from then on. Keep GIR on watch in my room or something. Maybe I'd had a history as a killer, but I had to atone for that.

I was apparently already atoning, as became clear once that day fell into evening. I went for a walk to clear my head, and when I reached the lake, a familiar figure stood by the willow tree on the banks. I didn't even look at the surface of the water, I was somehow so convinced that the Mandylion would have no reflection.

"Are you here to tell me more about your race?" I asked her.

"You already know about my race," she replied. It was chilling, to hear her voice again, colder than even the frigid October night air.

"I know nothing about the Kalleck," I said, approaching cautiously, "other than that they're supposed to be extinct." The last part, I bit out much more harshly than I'd meant to. As if a Kalleck's presence insulted me, not that I could tell why.

"I am not of that race, Zim," said the Mandylion. "The Kalleck are extinct."

"But Lard Nar had some in the Resisty!" I protested, only to be answered by the Mandylion shaking her cloaked head.

"The Kalleck are gone," said the Mandylion, "though there are others who recreate their robes and carry on their research." So those in question were probably just Vortians, or other smaller aliens opposing the Irkens. Nacea wasn't going to like that news, and neither was Dib. I'd just have to figure out some way to tell them without having to spill everything about the Mandylion.

"Then what are you?" I demanded.

"Simply an agent of change," was her answer. "Speaking of which, have you felt yours?"

"What—heh?"

"Your latest change," she said, approaching me with slow, silent steps. "It is there, you know," she went on, touching a cold, gloved hand to my chest. "You've grown. But with growing comes hardship. With half of a human soul, Zim, are you prepared to face down what will come next?"

"Of... of course I'm ready," I said, confused, as I backed away to distance myself from her chilling touch, "but... half?"

"Tell me," the Mandylion prompted, turning her head to face the lake, "did you hate the Vortian Lard Nar?"

That didn't take much thought. "Y-yeah, I guess so," I answered with a shrug, "but now that he's dead, it's like... I dunno, I almost feel sorry for it. I mean, I'd wished him dead, I hated him so much, but that's... that's a really awful thought." That instantly called to my mind a question of whether or not I'd feel the same way about Tak, if she were to fall. If I were to kill her—as I was so horrifyingly certain that I had indeed been the one to kill Lard Nar. Just as it had been with Miyuki, would I ever know?

"Then," said the Mandylion, "you have grasped a human's concept of hate. Trust, Hate, Fear and Love. You're halfway there."

"Hate?" I wondered. "I proved _hatred?_ I don't want to be a hateful person!"

"And now you know why."

I shivered, and cast a glance back at the concept. So a soul wasn't entirely filled with good intentions. Humans were double-sided creatures, too. Human life depended on a balance, and someday soon, if I earned my soul, I'd be able to understand it all. "So what's next?" I wondered, my voice disappearing over the lake.

"Love and be loved," said the Mandylion, "and above all else, face down your greatest Fear before it can conquer you."

"I don't know what that is," I admitted. "I-I don't know what it is I'm most afraid of..."

"You will know," was her only response.

I did not wait for her to say more, but I had to stop her with a question before she could leave: "But... but I did rise above Hate, right? I have half of a human soul?" Hate did not feel as warm and welcoming as Trust, but I should have expected as much. Trust was a warmth that filled me and made me feel wanted and accepted; Hate was a pit that gaped somewhere inside me, filling and releasing with a sensation more like wading through sand. It was a harder emotion to grasp and overcome, but I had done it, and I found that I really could differentiate and draw the line between hatred and disrespect.

The Mandylion nodded.

Half. One half of a whole. Half removed from the Empire, halfway to humanity.

That was enough to bring my mood back up. Almost enough to make me believe that Lard Nar really had taken his own life. Almost enough to ignore the darker influences on my life, to ignore the occurrences from my past that I had for so long been able to escape mention of, that I had been shielded from.

Because I was exactly half human. I had one complete half of a human soul.

The two components left were Fear and Love. Fear obviously seemed daunting, but Love... that was something I was working on.

– – –

– – –

**Author's Notes:**

Hiiiiii everyone! ^^ Oh my God, am I seriously typing _'Transitions Finale'_ into the chapter titles right now? Every bit of Part Two always sneaks up on me, it seems. XD But yes... Part Two is coming to a close. In fact, after this, I daresay there are only three chapters left. :3

One of them will be uploaded **later tonight!** Another will be on its way **tomorrow!** And then, of course, the last one next Saturday (or possibly Friday, depending on my schedule). And then, onward to _Part Three: Memories!_

I will write more of a reflection when I upload tonight's addendum (it's more of a continuation of Zim's narration than another chapter, but the two have such wildly different tones, I decided it was best to separate them), but for now... my goodness gracious, Zim's up against some interesting stuff, eh? ^^ Half a soul earned, and... now what?

And where the hell IS Tak? :3

Answers are coming, possibly in the remainder of this part, possibly once we move into the next~! But I must (and shall again and again!) thank you all so insanely much for your awesome, incredible support of this saga, and I promise I will come round to returning/answering reviews again soon!

See you **at some point in the next few hours!** :3

~Jizena~

– – –


	23. Transitions Finale 2: Halloween

– – –

**Author's Note:**

_Invader Zim_ is -c- Jhonen Vasquez! Only the events of this story, characters specific to the story, and character tweaking (heh) are mine. :3

~Jizena~

– – –

_Zim's Records_

_(Continued)_

Despite the more terrifying happenings and revelations that had happened that month, I made myself set my mind on positive things. On how I could help myself out. If I focused strictly on earning my soul, on trying to reach a mutual understanding of 'love' with the girl I adored, I could distract myself from the darker influences on my life.

On Halloween, Gaz and I were on breakfast rotation. Much earlier in the month, I'd been on rotation with Charlotte Baudelaire, who had—rather silently—taught me how to make pancakes, so we opted to do that. Gaz, having admittedly no talent with food whatsoever, left me to the batter-making part, but she did her part by sculpting all of them into bat silhouettes, which took some talent without a cutter or mold. Her roommate loved the idea so much, she ran to their room once breakfast had started and came back with a jar of pumpkin butter she apparently had been 'saving for the right thing.' It was one of the more successful breakfasts all week, and Gaz thanked me for getting over my admitted dislike of the holiday so that she could enjoy it.

Because neither of us had much of a schedule set for that day (Gaz had even requested it off), I asked her to leave the complex and go out into the town with me, under the pretense that it was for her to enjoy her favorite holiday. She accepted, and we set out around noon. Things seemed to be getting back to normal in the wake of the Resisty attack, and the outskirts of the city were beautiful and alive with sepia trees and vendors selling foods of the season.

We avoided the street Gaz's house was on. In fact, when she realized we were heading in that direction, she grabbed my hand and pulled me down the next street, and she didn't let go until we arrived at some semblance of a destination.

Now, for being a part of the SEC army, I was given a small (up to $45) weekly stipend, which was meant to be used for supplies and such. Having no immediate need to spend any of the pay I'd built up on that sort of thing, I kept a good amount of it on me that day, folded and secured in a clip in my pocket, so that I could use it, if needed, on Gaz.

Our first stop in town was the bookstore at which Gaz had sought out a job during what she called the Incident, and she surprisingly had to stop herself from laughing too much as we walked without purpose through the aisles. "Isn't this weird?" she asked me at one point, when we were walking through the science fiction section.

"Yeah," I answered, grabbing a random book off of one of the upper shelves. The cover boasted a computer-rendered image of a supposedly extraterrestrial landscape, so I chortled, "I mean, just _look_ at the inaccuracies on these novels!"

Gaz let out a clipped laugh and smacked my wrist, which got me to set the book back on the shelf as she said, "No, I mean, being _here,_ as in... being in places where we went _then,_ but time hasn't even caught up."

"Yeah," I agreed, offering her my hand, which she took and held as we continued through the store.

"Know what's really weird?" she asked me quietly, tightening her grip.

"Hmm?"

"Tak hasn't made a move." A chill went down my spine, and through our clasped hands, I felt Gaz shudder as well. "She's the Tallest, right?"

"Unfortunately," I confirmed.

"So, what's she doing?"

"I don't know exactly," I told Gaz, trying to sound as comforting as I could, given the topic of conversation, "but I'm sure she's training quite the army."

"Lex and her dad and the Tallest are trying to track her," Gaz went on nervously. "I almost wish she'd _do_ something already, you know? Just so we don't all get sick wondering about it."

"I know the feeling," I said, "but I'm glad she held off long enough for us to get this time together."

On a whisper, Gaz responded, "So am I."

Moments like that, I lived for. Gaz had a strange but unique way of showing affection, and even on the brink of war she had the sense to want to take things slow. I was starting to appreciate that, actually, even if I was a little desperate to know whether or not she actually loved me.

Since my most recent meeting with the Mandylion, I'd been starting to try to re-justify things for myself. Yes, Gaz and I had become a little closer as friends lately, which I could not have been happier for. We were talking more, finding each other around the complex more... but we hadn't yet discussed a few very important things. Namely, how we'd left it after the Incident, the ring I still wondered if she'd found, and the fact that I really was exactly half human. I wanted to talk to her about my want for a soul, my want to prove myself to her... but any talk of that would inevitably invite talk of the flashes, which could come about seemingly at random. I didn't want her to know about those. Just knowing that they happened at all might caution her against me, not to mention how her brother might react.

So I read what I could from her, and decided that taking things slow was, for now, the best in my panel of options. Taking what I could when I was able... that was fine.

We left the bookstore in search of a place to sit for a while, and settled on a small, dark coffee shop that was elegantly decorated for autumn and Halloween. Red, orange and yellow leaves of silk hung from the low ceilings and adorned exposed ducts in the walls; glittering synthetic cobwebs looked at home in several corners; each table had a small candle at the center, flickering inside a small, hollowed-out pumpkin or gourd. The blonde girl at the counter couldn't have been much older or younger than Gaz (she referred to the other woman working as her aunt, though, which made it reasonable that she was an employee), and was dressed in black and orange, though not to an alarming degree.

"I like this," Gaz commented when she claimed her drink—something called a 'chai'—just loud enough for the girl at the counter to hear. "It's not distracting in here."

"Thanks," said the worker. "It took me forever to get everyone else here to agree this town didn't need one more shop looking all commercialized." She then set my drink—I'd opted for something with both caffeine and chocolate—down, and patted the counter with her right hand, displaying mismatched but seasonal nail polish. "Enjoy the holiday, guys."

Gaz gave her a little twitch-smile, then ticked her head toward the back of the shop, where I followed her so that we could seek out a little corner table near an exposed brick wall. "I can't believe we found this," she commented. "It's like real Halloween in here. None of the annoying stuff."

"Like candy zombies?" I guessed as we took our seats.

"Like candy zombies," she agreed. "This is like what it's supposed to be. In my opinion. Just dark, just part of the season."

"Gotta admit, I do kinda like it myself," I said, glancing around the dimly-lit establishment.

As Gaz picked up her ceramic mug full of frothy tea and milk, she smiled a bit, but that was quickly hidden as she took a drink. When she set the mug back down, she took another moment to admire the decor, while I took that time to admire her. She really was quite beautiful, even at only thirteen. She'd worn her hair down that day, and wore black chandelier earrings that cast textured shadows on the pale skin of her neck when she turned the right way. Her black and grey striped dress hid underneath a knee-length dark purple coat, similar in shade to the tights she wore, exposed to the tips of her thigh-high black boots. Every detail of her was incredible.

Gaz enjoyed the darker things, darker aesthetics, but her grasp on life was inspirational. She hadn't had it easy... that much was obvious, given the near-complete absence of her father from her life, and the complete absence of her mother. I knew nothing of normal human family life, but I knew Gaz's wasn't average, but she rarely showed signs of having suffered much from it. Looking at her, I always wanted to tell her, _Stay strong..._ but that girl already was. And that strength was beautiful.

We got a couple of stares, sitting there, and I figured it was my fault for wearing jeans into such a well-decorated place on such an all-out holiday, especially considering that I was in the company of a girl of true Gothic mindset. Gaz didn't seem to care, though; nor did I. We just stole about an hour of a rather lazy afternoon together, essentially just taking time to pretend to be normal teenagers before getting back into the stress that made up our real lives.

We spoke a little about her music; she lamented that she hadn't had much time recently to play her guitar, but that she enjoyed it when others listened. (And, of course, I asked for a private listen in, later on.) "Oh, guess who walked in on me playing the other day, while you were in army training?" she said when her chai was almost gone.

"Hmm? Who?"

"Guess."

"Oh, God, don't say Red."

"Close."

"Purple?" I wasn't able to hide my shock and confusion.

"Yeah," said Gaz, running her thumbs across her mug. "I thought it was weird, too. That he didn't just plain leave. He told me not to stop, he was just getting food or something... and he asked me about what I was playing, and I explained..."

"Did he get it?" I wondered.

"I have no idea," said Gaz. "He just said 'keep playing,' and left. He's weird. They're both weird."

"No kidding."

"Kinda good to have them, though, I guess," she shrugged. "I don't know. I always tried so hard not to get involved in Dib's weird obsessions, but now it's all of that that'll probably save the damn world. Go figure."

"Are you mad you were brought into it?" I wondered.

"No," she answered with a delicate ease. Her lips then curved to show another unpracticed smile, and she added, "I never would've made a friend otherwise."

God, if I could just frame that single moment of time—just to revisit it at any time...

I did, at least in my mind. Maybe 'friendship' was the extent of it for now, but it still meant so much to me.

We didn't loiter in the coffee shop for long, and decided to take a long walk around the city before heading back. We were quiet together for the most part, occasionally bringing up something random that came up as an observation (but hardly anything pertaining to things already on our minds), but it was wonderful. Every step, every second. We didn't have much time for days like this, and wouldn't, I was sure, the closer we came to the day we'd inevitably hear from Tak and find ourselves at war.

As we were heading back, just as we were about to exit the city to stick to the back roads on the way toward the complex, Gaz stopped short. When I asked her what was wrong, she simply dug into her coat pocket for a quarter, which she then inserted into a small red machine I hadn't noticed on the sidewalk in front of us. The machine whirred and spat out a newspaper, the front page of which was displayed in the contraption's glass window. I had only to read the bold headline to realize what had upset Gaz:

_MEMBRANE LABS CLOSED FOR UNDETERMINED EXTENDED HIATUS._

"Gaz..." I tried, but she wasn't about to listen.

"What the hell?" she muttered, staring at the front page, her brown eyes darting back and forth rapidly as she read the attached story. "Dad's... Dad's taking a hiatus fr-from public appearances..." she read off: _"'Professor Membrane has given no indication as to the nature of this new project, or when the public will see the reopening of Membrane Labs, the organization responsible for the town's cleanup in the wake of the recent unidentified attacks.'"_ Gaz grimaced, but read on: _"'Membrane himself is taking a longer than usual break from public appearances in order to work on this reportedly relevant new invention. When asked if the Professor had any attachment to the organization currently led by his—'"_

"Oh, shit..." I found myself saying.

_"'—led by his son, the Swollen Eyeball Corporation, he made no comment.'"_

Gaz's hands trembled on the paper before she tossed it in a nearby recycling receptacle. "Well, that sucks!" she shouted.

We weren't alone on the sidewalk, we both soon realized, and a middle-aged couple had stopped at the same machine and were reading the paper themselves. The woman did a double-take as Gaz stood fuming by the side of the road, then just had to add fuel to the fire by asking, "Excuse me?"

"What?" Gaz snapped, turning in the woman's direction.

"Sorry, but aren't you..." The woman's husband tried to get her to stop mid-question, but his attempt did not work. "Aren't you Professor Membrane's daughter?"

"Why the hell would you care?" Gaz came back at her.

"Okay, we're gonna go," I suggested, not daring to touch Gaz, not even a quick urge of a pat on the back.

"No, no, I wanna hear why the hell that's so important!" Gaz insisted, glaring at the woman. "What, I'm his daughter so I'm supposed to be all—"

"Gaz!" I tried again.

"I..." the woman stammered, "I was only wondering why you'd dispose of such an interesting story about your own father—"

"I don't think my dad's very interesting!" Gaz shouted. "I think he's an idiot!"

And with that, she stormed off in the direction of the complex. I followed right away, but made no comments. She was upset, and she needed to be the first one to speak out about it. Eventually, once we'd gone a few blocks, Gaz growled out, "You know what I hate, Zim?"

"What?"

"Labels."

"Eh?"

"Labels, I hate labels!" she blurt out, quickening her pace in her slight rage. "Like... like how I'm _Professor Membrane's daughter._ That's _it,_ that's how people _know me,_ it _sucks!"_

Before she could go on, I grabbed her in close and kissed the top of her head. We stopped walking, and she sighed against me, her warm breath penetrating even my light coat and shirt, so that I could feel the whole sensation on my skin.

I moved my hands to her waist, as hers locked around my neck, each of us urging the other closer. The lasting scent of coffee, lilacs and crisp October air clung to every silk strand of her hair, stimulating my senses as I shifted to leave a kiss just above her ear. As soon as we'd settled into the embrace, Gaz choked out a slight sob, and nuzzled her head against my chest, her fingertips pressing into the skin on the back of my neck. My arm stung slightly, but I ignored it; Gaz needed my full attention now.

"Sshh..." I coaxed her, stroking her back.

"I hate just being a _label,_ nobody's ever _known me, Zim!"_

"I don't see you as a label," I assured her, keeping my tone soft. "I only know you as Gaz."

She succumbed to a slight bout of tears for a moment, then caught her breath, sighed it all out, and said, "Thank you."

Hoping I wasn't taking it too far, especially for this kind of moment, I shifted so that I could give her a response in the only way that currently made sense. Keeping my left arm hooked tightly around her waist, I raised my right hand to brush a few strands of hair back behind Gaz's ear, then gently tilted her chin up, instantly allowing our eyes to meet.

Once they had, I leaned in and pressed my lips firmly against hers. Gaz fought it for a second, but succumbed soon enough, allowing me just enough of a taste to keep me satisfied. She loosed her hands from around my neck, and grasped instead at the front of my coat, keeping fistfuls of the light, black material as she swayed on her toes to keep up.

When we drew back, I pressed my face into the crook of her shoulder, lightly kissed her neck, and said, "Find me, Gaz. Talk to me any time anything like this upsets you." I stood back, then, but kept myself close to her level. Stealing one extra, small kiss from her, directly on the lips, I added, "All right?"

Gaz nodded and hugged me tightly, but barely said another word for the rest of the walk back to the complex, though she did repeat her earlier, "Thank you."

Later on in the day, it was confirmed that 'labels' included, in her mind, things like, oh, 'boyfriend' and 'girlfriend,' which was another big part of her hesitation, so I agreed to try not to even think about bringing labels into anything. We were friends, and we both seemed to enjoy slightly more intimate moments, situations depending. That was just fine.

In my mind, I left it that Gaz and I would slowly continue working our way toward mutual understanding. That Love, as a component, was something that needed to be tended with utmost care. That love, the core of the human existence, the core of the human soul, could not be rushed. That if I was to understand it, I would do so with time. With experience. And I had to hope that, the longer I worked on proving that I could grasp a human's true concept of the emotion, the better I could ignore the repercussions that came with still being sub-human in so many ways.

– – –

But I knew I couldn't suppress my Irken tendencies forever. Not with my PAK still inside me, clinching the heart that pumped human blood, the lungs that filled with sweet oxygen. No—it was there, and it was healing. It was healing far too well. Possibly because its host had changed. My human mind was more perceptive. I was more open. And the PAK knew that.

It was re-setting itself.

With a stronger host to feed off of, the PAK was restoring _everything_ I'd lost. Every bit of data. Including what I'd once forgotten.

That explained the flashes.

Those sixty years wouldn't remain a mystery much longer. And I had only one way to beat it: earn a soul.

There was one obstacle, though... as it slowly repaired itself, the PAK almost seemed to develop a voice. It was similar to mine—fainter, for now, and lower—but not the voice of reason or intuition. If anything, it was an anti-conscience. And it was wholly Irken.

– – –

– – –

**Author's Note:**

Yay! ^^

It's nice to have these little moments amid all the other chaos… but that quirk about his PAK… he may want to look out for that…

But… man, I've really enjoyed getting to these past few chapters. A lot of the recent ones have been, heh, almost complete rehashes of what the originals were, and I love the new versions so much more. ^^ And holy crap we're seriously just a couple chapters away from moving onto the next part… aaaahhhh! Zim's halfway to his soul and we're coming to a halfway point as well… ack… ^^;

So, yes! I'll be posting an extra chapter tomorrow, though it may not go up until very very late (probably between 10-11 EST)… but it shall be there! Thank you all for sticking with me through this!

Then I shall see you all **tomorrow, September 25****th****!** I'm off to sleep~

:3

~Jizena~

Random PS just because: Hahaha I just realized both of my stories (this and my _South Park_ fic) are taking place around Halloween at this point... it's total coincidence that it happened but it's kind of hilarious. I start getting Halloween-crazy around this time every year, though, so it totally works out. XD It's an awesome holiday, candy zombies and all.

– – –


	24. Transitions Finale 3: Voice

– – –

**Author's Note:**

_Invader Zim_ is -c- Jhonen Vasquez! Only the events of this story, characters specific to the story, and character tweaking (heh) are mine. :3

~Jizena~

– – –

_Zim's Records_

_(Continued)_

As time went on, nightmares became more frequent. They were terrifying primarily in that they were more than likely based on fact. It was almost a challenge to try to forget them, but with some, I managed. I would wake to the after-images of scenes too bloody to want to recall, too vivid to be wholly imaginary.

Every so often, I would hear that faint voice in my head, the one so like yet so far removed from my own. It would complain of discomfort within a human body, command that I remember or, in some instances, 'wake up,' so that mind and PAK could once again mesh and I would be as I was. For that was its goal, I realized. An Irken PAK is its own organism. It has become, over the years, an Irken's defining feature, making the organic mind less and less important. As someone a little more unique, I had already been abnormal, and I doubted I had ever been cut from the standard mold. That being known, my healing PAK was waking up to its original function: as a guide for the mind, as a controlling parasite bent on replacing conscious thought with rules and order.

It did this by reminding me that humans can feel pain much more sharply than Irkens can. The cut on my arm didn't heal, since the PAK's will wouldn't allow it to. The scars on my back burned whenever an event called to mind a shadow from my past. As days turned to weeks, I learned how to suppress it, just a little, just enough to get through training and dinner and other things I needed to do in public. So it all festered, and caught up with me when I was alone. But the more human I felt I was becoming—accentuated by my now half-complete soul—the more Irken the PAK therefore was. It remained what it had always been, while the rest of me changed.

I didn't want to fall back on it, but it didn't want to accept the changes in me.

And so I found myself at odds with my own internal chemistry. Sometimes to the point of arguing with myself. Or... possibly myself. The PAK self, the part of me that the human side didn't need anymore. It refused to be forgotten. It even got to the point at which I stopped referring to the PAK as an _it_ and instead as a _he. He_ had a voice, and _he_ wasn't too happy with my new goals.

_"Look at you,"_ it would sound like he was scolding me, _"a soldier for a foreign cause. Yet still a soldier."_

"Shut up," was my half-vocal response.

_"There's nothing to this existence but decay."_

I managed to shake the voice away, but of course, it wouldn't stay gone for long. I'd been Irken—truth. I'd been trained on Devastis—truth. I'd killed, I'd conquered, but I already felt so removed from that part of my life.

And what about Miyuki?

It finally came round to the point that I decided to talk to the Tallest. It happened one morning when I woke from a nightmare in a cold sweat, my back burning and my head buzzing with another gory image from Station 7, the scene of my most talked-about crime. I shook everything away, and realized that I wasn't going to be able to fight this alone. I needed someone to at least tell me something. Anything. Someone who knew.

So I clambered out of bed and cast a glance at the clock, showing that I'd slept in—10:30. Red and Purple would absolutely be awake by that time. "Hey!" I shouted, pounding on the door to the room they shared, directly next to mine. "My Tallest? I need to talk to you!"

"Not right now, Zim," I heard Red mutter from inside.

"It's _really important!"_ I hollered, flinging open the door and immediately feeling like I was intruding.

"Would you mind letting me get dressed first?" Red grumbled. I noticed then that he was standing and shirtless, but was already starting to pull a garment on. I apologized and he pulled on the shirt, then a thicker overcoat to combat the weather.

"Sorry," I apologized again, "but—"

"It's fine. Whatever. Purple's not here right now; he should be back soon. Or is it something I can answer?"

I pressed my hands firmly against the doorframe, glanced behind me to make sure nobody else was around, then demanded, "Did I kill Miyuki?"

"What?"

_"Did I kill Miyuki?"_ I repeated.

"That's not a really important issue right now," Red said, grabbing his glasses off the table next to his bed. He had claimed the side of the room to my left, while the right was all Purple's. Needless to say, Purple's side was a little neater, and it seemed he'd taken a few books from one of the libraries on the complex to make the bookshelf, which was also on his side, a little less bare. The bed was neatly made (which mine never was and which Red's pretended it was), and there was one book that had been left, bookmarked, on the bed. So he really was reading them all.

"Not important?" I growled. "Red, sir, it's _everything._ Lard Nar mentioned it. And I've been... seeing it. Or pieces of it."

Red froze and glared at me. "What do you mean?" he wondered, his expression grave.

"I mean, I've been kind of remembering things... or, not remembering, just kind of dreaming it, seeing it in flashes," I told him. "Red, I think my PAK is repairing itself in me, and it's making me see things I didn't remember before. Is there _anything_ you can tell me?"

For a moment, the Tallest hesitated. He looked me over once or twice, then shook his head and pushed past me to get to the hallway. "Zim, this sucks to say, but if I told you anything, it might make things worse," he said, and in his tone I knew that there was no convincing him otherwise.

"Nothing could make this worse!" I shouted after him. "Where the hell are you _going,_ Red, I need to _talk to you!"_

"Talk to Purple!" he snapped back at me, and disappeared into the grand hall.

"Well, fuck you, too!" I hollered. "Seriously," I snarled to myself, pacing into the front room while angrily grabbing at my hair, "the one time, this is just the _one time_ I need to—"

"Has Red got you all upset?"

I glanced up and noticed that the very person in question had entered the main room: Purple was walking in from outside, dressed down (for him) in just jeans and what very easily could have been one of Gaz's sweatshirts (as they were the same size) to combat the November air. He looked almost genuinely concerned.

"Him and all of the rest of the universe," I answered, slumping down into the recliner that usually Dib claimed whenever all of us were in that common space together. "Purple, you know, everyone knows... there's a huge gaping hole in my memory, but... I'm afraid it's starting to fill up."

"What do you mean?" he wondered, considering my words with sincerity as he took a seat on the sofa across from me.

"I'm seeing flashes of what I've done," I told him. "I haven't told anyone this, so please keep it quiet, but it's really starting to disturb me. It's almost more disturbing that nobody has ever once told me the truth about anything."

Purple sighed, flicked his bangs out of his right eye, and said honestly, "I, for one, am truly sorry you have to have that hanging over you, Zim, but it is with good reason that Red and I have kept a few things from you up until now."

"I figured you'd say something like that," I groaned. "Look, Purple, I get that you're trying to protect me from something, but..."

"Zim, trust me," said Purple, his strong eyes meeting mine. "We really do know what we're doing in this."

"I hope so."

Purple was silent again for a moment, then looked as though he was about to get up. I stopped him by asking, as I'd tried to several times before, "Purple, who was I?"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me." It really did feel like the PAK was another entity all together. I had once claimed proud ownership of it, but coming to Earth, becoming human, had changed me in so many ways. I didn't want to start blacking out and giving my mind over to that parasite's control. I couldn't have the Control Brains back in my life, not now, not when I was so close to being completely removed from the Empire, from everything that had ever held me down. I couldn't black out and do something awful. Again. "You knew me, didn't you?" I asked. "You've always known me, right? You and Red? And yet you've always lied to me. Why?"

"Zim, we'll tell you eventually," Purple said firmly, rising. "Now really is not the time."

"When will it be, then?" I spat angrily, standing quickly as well.

Purple scowled at me. "Do you want to know so badly?" he wondered.

"Who am I?" I demanded.

The Tallest let his eyes meet mine, then he looked away, tossed his bangs out of his face, and walked toward the main door, brushing past me. "You're Zim," he said. "Isn't that enough for you? Fight for what you believe in now, without dwelling on the past."

"My Tallest, _stop,"_ I requested firmly, rising as well. He did, and drew in a deep breath. I saw his thin shoulders tense and his hands curl into fists. "Sir, you're saying all these things that—"

"Shut up."

"Eh?"

"I said shut up," Purple growled, reeling back to glare up at me with those sharp purple eyes. "How many times have I told you not to call me _sir?_ And yet you keep doing it! I hate hearing it, especially from you."

"I... I'm sorry," I said quickly, remembering Purple's one stipulation. "I just... look, I'm sorry, but if you could just please tell me why I should not put focus on the past right now? It's obviously going to affect me sooner or later, right?"

"Pasts catch up to everyone in time," he responded, rather grimly. "Yours has been delayed for so long, you shouldn't go looking for it. Trust me. Otherwise, I'm convinced that arm of yours won't hold up."

I drew in a gasp, and grabbed at the bandaged, still-open wound on my upper right arm. "You... you haven't even looked at it lately..." I found myself saying.

"But it hasn't healed yet. Do you think I'm stupid, Zim?" Purple snapped at me. Don't answer that. "It's kind of obvious that it hasn't healed. How did you get that, again?"

"Tak," I responded, before I could think.

He drew back, then said, almost to himself, "Hmm. Right. In that case, I guess we can expect her soon."

"Purple, what are you _talking about?"_ Not being told things was going from being annoying to being downright scary. Was this Fear? Or was Fear something far worse, something I couldn't even begin to grasp yet? "How much do you know? How much does Red know? Why are the two of you—"

The Tallest's almond-shaped purple eyes narrowed, and for a moment he looked quite unlike himself. "Red isn't like me," he said darkly, "nor am I anything like him. I am my own person, and so is he. Don't take our position into account when addressing us separately. It's not 'the two of us,' Zim, I have my own talents and flaws, and he has his. Red doesn't know half as much as I do." He turned away again and continued toward the main door. "Red is an idiot."

I agreed with that much. Red was an idiot.

But Red was hiding too much, and he wasn't going to be able to keep quiet around me for long. He knew more than he was letting on. Purple knew more than any of us gave him credit for; he really was far more intelligent than his partner, which made him even more terrifying. And then there was me.

What kind of secret, behind those flashes, was I keeping from myself?

Whatever it was, I had to continue keeping it under wraps. I had to hold my head up each day and try not to let all of that affect me. Everything else around me was going so well, I wouldn't allow myself to become the cause for something terrible.

_Focus on your goal, Zim._ That was my mantra. _Focus on that, and don't let anything or anybody stop you._

_ "Not even me..."_

– – –

– – –

**Author's Note:**

Whew! Oh my goodness gracious me. So I totally lied. I have a couple more chapters. XD Because Zim essentially narrates the rest of _Part Two,_ and I wanted to split his chapters up even more. I feel bad that Gaz kind of hasn't narrated at all… but then again, I sort of consider _TWFF_ to be her story, and the guys take ownership of the _Saga._ But her narrations will return (actually, she as a lot…) in _Part Three._

Now, there's still TWO more chapters to come! Not much to say on this one, except... I've been soooo eager to get to this part, about the PAK logistics... XD

Oh my God, guys, I'm so excited to bring you the end of _Transitions_ at the end of this week… one chapter on **Friday, September 30th, **and one on **Saturday, October 1st!** Thank you all so much for being so awesome~!

:3

~Jizena~

– – –


	25. Transitions Finale 4: Musical Interlude

– – –

**Author's Note:**

_Invader Zim_ is -c- Jhonen Vasquez! Only the events of this story, characters specific to the story, and character tweaking (heh) are mine. :3

~Jizena~

– – –

_Dib's Records_

I continued procrastinating all the way through November. On that one issue.

Otherwise, things were going fine. Having Lard Nar dead wasn't great, but it wasn't really a setback either, so we didn't view it as much. Honestly, awful as it was to think, it was good to have him out of the way so that we could be more prepared for an Irken attack.

Zim had shared with me—and not even at my request or demand—the gist of what Lard Nar had told him on that final day... everything was a taunt. Lard Nar had apparently been a witness to the supposed murder of Tallest Miyuki, and was dangling the information over Zim's head. For once, I almost started to feel bad for the guy. Zim sort of had it rough, and he really had been proving himself a _lot_ as of late. Nothing seemed to be advancing between him and my sister, which... okay, I tried to have no opinion about... and I couldn't help but feel that it was primarily due to Gaz's unease of who our mother was.

Which made me wonder just how long we could keep that a secret from Zim.

My training schedule continued, and I found myself becoming more motivated as the weather grew colder. November brought with it an early frost, and by the time December was on the way, it was already looking like snow.

One December day in particular changed everything. Changed the way I'd continue operating, from that day on. It came at a fairly decent time, too. Training was just as it had always been... relaxing with Nacea, hectic with Tenn, Purple and Red, and ultimately comforting at the end of the week with Lex. I'd given a bit of thought, throughout November, to what Gaz had said, in regards to possible relationships. On the side, I watched her and Zim getting a little closer, primarily just in that they spoke more often, hardly about anything... they just needed a chance to talk. I mean, Lex and I caught up with each other for the same reasons sometimes. Just to talk. About nothing in particular. I didn't have to talk tactics or treaties with her. I did ask her a little about her past work... her years of hunting vampires with her father, and she wove for me very interesting tales of bonding moments between them, and how careful she'd always have to be when on the job.

Another thing we spoke about was music. I heard Lex and Gaz play together sometimes, violin and guitar, but I hadn't really gotten the chance to listen to Lex play solo. So, that December afternoon, the 7th to be exact, when I heard the trill of a violin leaking out from the music room in the grand hall, I knew I had to listen in. I lingered outside the door for a minute, wondering a little why only recently I had an ear for music again. It was tough to try to remember everything my mother had played, and tough to imagine Miyuki creating such passionate music. Her instrument had been the piano, though, so maybe the different sound helped my new appreciation. Maybe it was that, maybe it was something else. Either way, I wanted to get in that room and have a real listen.

Stupidly, I knocked twice, rapping my knuckles lightly on the music room door; the slight sound did not seem to carry through the thick wood, as the soaring violin persisted from behind the wall. The music was too intoxicating to ignore, so I opened the door and stepped in. The damn thing then slammed shut behind me, and the music came to an abrupt stop.

Lex had been in there alone, completely engrossed in her violin. Her fngers were still positioned on the frets just as carefully as they always were on her crossbow; her music was given just as much of her attention as any of her professional work. But she jumped at my intrusion, and instead of music there was an awkward silence, which I knew I had to break, if only to get her to stop giving me that quizzical look.

Now, I could have apologized in a number of ways... pardoned myself in a professional manner, said a friendly 'sorry' and let her get back to work...

...But no.

No, what came out instead was a wholly uncontrollable, "Uh... hi."

"Hi..." said Lex, a laugh almost creeping up onto her face. I grinned, in some stupid attempt to cover for myself and let her keep speaking, but she nodded toward me to indicate that, no, it was my turn to talk.

"The, uh... did the door slam?" was what came out next. Oh, this was not good. I had very little control over how things were said at the moment, for some reason. That reason being nerves I hadn't known would pose this much of an issue. "I mean," I covered, holding my hands out in defense to show that eventually I _really would say something_ that made a little sense, "of course it slammed, but I didn't slam it. Or, didn't mean to. Sorry."

"Uh-_huh,"_ said Lex. The laugh was still threatening to show.

"It's a really heavy door."

Lex muffled her laugh and hid her smile by turning away from me, in order to put her violin back in its case on the table behind her. "Can I help you with something?" she asked.

"Oh—oh, no, no, Lex, don't... don't feel like you have to stop playing!" I said quickly, taking a few long strides into the room.

"It's just me, anyway," said Lex, turning to face me again. "Your sister won't be joining me..."

"I know," I said, and immediately felt like I was being overwhelmingly forward. In reality, I was just being awkward and unsure. As Lex herself had said: _fourteen._ I'd been a kind of awkward kid. Because I'd always immersed myself in my paranormal studies, I hadn't really had friends growing up; mostly Gaz and I just stuck together and even then we hadn't been close until recently... so I wasn't quite the expert on social situations. Especially ones involving, oh, _girls._ Which was exactly why I'd tried not to think like a normal teenager, why I'd tried not to get involved in anything I couldn't handle. I didn't get love or affection, really; it was a concept that sort of eluded me. That didn't mean I couldn't feel it, or wouldn't be surprised, though. "I-I mean," I went on rambling, "that's fine. I know, and it's fine. I..." I took a deep breath, trying to calm my thoughts. Finally, I fixed my eyes right on Lex, and said, a little stronger than I'd been managing, "I wanted to hear you play. Just you."

Lex chewed the inside of her cheek, and, looking almost hesitant, tucked a stray wisp of hair behind her left ear. "Why?" she wanted to know.

"Um..." I tried to glance around the room for another excuse, but came up with nothing. My gaze fixed directly back on her, my exact reasoning came out: "I... I kind of lost my faith in all forms of music after my mother left."

"I'm sorry."

"I—me, too, but... Lex, I can listen to you," I said, my heart pounding so fast it felt as if each heartbeat was forcing words out of me at a faster-than-usual pace. "And it's... oh, God... I'm sorry, I do this thing where I just start talking out loud about things normal people would just _think_ out, but..."

"Do you?" Lex smirked. "I don't believe I'd be offended. Plenty of people do that."

"Well, do plenty of people say things like... like, I don't know..." I shook my head, and blurt out, "Like, I think I'm getting so awkward right now because there's absolutely no way to tell you how glad I am that I _can_ talk to you..?"

"What do you mean?"

Jeez, why'd she have to keep me going like that? Words were becoming harder and harder to find. "I don't know," I groaned. "Long story short, I like talking to you, and... o-our talks kind of inspire me to do more. So..."

Lex almost laughed, and asked, "Dib, do you have a crush on me...?"

"Oh, I think I'm even past that stage," I blurt out. Which was absolutely stupid. I needed a muzzle or something. "Oh, _God,"_ I caught myself, "I mean... wow, that sounded—I am so sorry."

"You have no idea what you're getting yourself into, do you?" Lex smirked at me.

"I... I wasn't aware I was getting myself 'into' anything," I admitted. But she took a couple steps closer, and I realized how wrong _that_ statement was. I didn't want to be nervous around her. She was the one who kept me grounded, kept reminding me that, despite anything, I was still human. I couldn't push such a great—and even understanding—anchor away. And, no, she was no longer just that; I mean, she was a friend. Hell, given what I'd gone through in the past, it was nice just hearing someone agree with me... and yes, there were a lot of people around me now who would do just that, but... Lex had something else. I couldn't put my finger on it, but there was something I saw in her that set her apart. Yeah, that's how much experience with girls I had.

"Oh, come on," she said. "Are you trying to tell me you've _never_ had a crush on a girl before?"

"N-no, I have, but..."

"But what?"

"But... never on someone as supportive and kind as you," I told her. "You just... sorry if this sounds weird, but, it's like... you keep me grounded, you know? Up until today, apparently, I've been able to talk to you. And... and I like that."

"Honestly?" Lex wondered.

"Y-yeah, of course."

Lex covered a smile. I still didn't understand why she did that. So I asked.

"Why do you do that?" I asked right out.

"Do what?"

Almost without thinking, I caught her wrist, which got her to lower her hand. "Cover your mouth when you laugh or smile," I said, without letting go.

Lex's eyes widened one second, and narrowed the next. "Do I still do that?" she asked, her words coming out as a half-gasp.

"You didn't notice?"

"Well... I suppose, every once in a while, it's obvious, but—_ugh,_ that ass!" she cursed, downcasting her gaze. "It's because of my stupid ex-boyfriend, Jonathan." My stomach flipped. I'd kind of forgotten about that—she had mentioned someone of that name before. "He said it was more ladylike the less I... oh, damn, I can't believe... I'm sorry."

"It's okay," I shrugged. "You don't have to be sorry, but, uh..."

"Hmm?"

"But, maybe _try_ letting yourself smile, for once?" I tried. "You're a pretty girl, Lex, so I'm sure..." And just then, she started laughing, revealing behind her lips a white but nervous smile. "What? What's funny?"

"You think I'm pretty?" she laughed.

"Well, I mean... I... yeah?" I said, realizing that just about everything I wanted to say was now out there. "There's a lot of reasons I like you, Lex, just... oh, um..."

Finally, she let out a full, rounded, personal laugh, one showing that she found total amusement in the way I was handling things... but one light enough to show that she thought no less of me for it. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she said as she calmed herself back down. "This is just very..."

"Lame?" I offered on a groan.

"No! No, not exactly, it's... it's sweet," Lex told me. She glanced down, prompting me to do so as well... and our eyes fell on our hands, where I still lightly held her wrist.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Lex breathed.

For a moment, the music room was filled with silence. Even my mind seemed to shut off, and I was left wondering exactly what would come next. "Would, er... would it be awful for anything to start between us?" Lex wondered after another several beats.

"Awful? I don't think so," I answered "Why would anything like that be awful?"

"I don't know," she sighed. "Never mind. It's all just, a bit... confusing for me."

"What?"

"The fact that I've rather come to like you."

That set my stomach in flips and my heart in a marathon. I honestly had not seen anything like this coming. I had not envisioned myself as half of a pair... not any time soon, anyway. But this was... just about the only one I'd accept right now. Constant contact with the person who kept me sane and human. An excuse to get to know someone on a much closer, tighter level. God... over time, I really had become attracted to her, to everything she was capable of.

"Why didn't you say so?" I asked her, as gently as I could.

"Well, you didn't say anything, either!" she reprimanded, flushing red as she looked up at me again. "Honestly, you really are such a... a _kid,_ and..."

"Oh, come on," I laughed. "I'm taller than you, get over it."

"Ugh, you're spending entirely too much time with that Tallest Red," Lex said, laughing outright for once.

"Yeah," I agreed— "and not enough time with you. O-or..." I started to amend my statement, just in case I'd said something wrong, or overstepped a boundary.

"Oh, stop," said Lex, quickly but quietly.

"What?"

"Stop feeling like you need to justify things, Dib," she said, nearly grinning. "I'll stop, too."

"Justifying?"

"As in..." said Lex, "I don't know, you pretending you've other reasons to say things, me pretending that you being younger than me is a setback..."

"It isn't?" I asked hopefully, somehow managing not to sound too ridiculous when asking it. I mean, we were apart by only, what, three years?

"Look, maybe you're young, but you do manage to keep things exhaustingly professional," she said, squeezing my shoulder a little, "and I've come to admire that. I wouldn't mess that up by allowing yourself to become awkward, if I were you."

"Believe me, I'm trying," I admitted with a grin.

Lex sighed lightly and rested her head on my shoulder. Almost without thinking, I set my free hand on the small of her back and pulled her in. Moving into me, she shifted her arms to wrap them around my waist, where she clung, rather tightly, to the back of my shirt. Having her there was something so new, so different from anything else I'd ever experienced. Having someone else right there... someone else's warmth, right there, promising comfort, promising some kind of balance I always sort of knew I'd been missing... it was a pretty wonderful feeling. No wonder Gaz had said I needed to chill out more. I'd never felt more relaxed. No amount of meditation or other form of discipline could teach me to let go and be present quite like this.

Since I had barely been prepared to even confess to her that day, the pace at which we were moving startled me a little. The closest I'd ever been to a possible relationship was back in the fourth grade, when I had a slight attraction to Tak, before finding out the truth about her. I suppose one could say I had a thing for girls with accents. But Lex was a bit different from any of the other girls that had played a major role in my life before. Whether trying to kill me or calling me crazy, most of the girls I've had 'relationships' with in the past haven't been exactly girlfriend material. Lex was the one though. I was sure of it. One problem: I didn't know where to start.

Once Lex had drawn out of our embrace, I rested my hands again just on her shoulders, squeezing them a little, glad to have been so close to her for that moment. I wanted that closeness to continue, and it seemed that she did as well, which was a more than welcome feeling.

"So..." I began to ask, feeling the slightest bit of awkwardness while bringing up the subject, "where do we go from here?"

"I mean... it's up to you," Lex said quietly. "Now that we've both got our feelings out there..."

"I don't imagine many opportunities for dating in the same sense as in, you know, the real world, would come up," I admitted, "but, if you wanted to, we could..."

"That doesn't matter much," said Lex, her eyes getting brighter after I mentioned the possibility of dating. "Really, I'd just like to start spending more time with you."

"Yeah," I told her, "same here. I really like you, Lex... I'd like to see this go somewhere."

Lex smiled, instinctively bringing a hand up to cover her mouth, then stopping herself quickly. Cautiously, I moved my hands down her arms until my hands clasped hers. She gave my hands a quick sqeeze, casting her gaze down as she did so. "Dib, I... I don't know what to say," she said quietly. "I've never been this speechless before pursuing a relationship before. I suppose that's good, since the other relationships I've been in have ended pretty badly. My last boyfriend told me I'm bad luck."

"That damn Jonathan again?" I guessed.

"That's him."

"Well... I could give you the chance to prove him wrong," I told her, leaning in a little. Our foreheads touched together, and my heart started pounding. I'd never willingly been that close to anyone before. Not even Nacea, with whom I shared a minor spiritual bond. Lex was the only one who had ever made my heart race quite like this.

She looked up directly into my eyes, her face going red at my last comment. "I'd like that," she confessed. "I'm ready to really give this a try. I... yes..."

I gave a slight laugh, more than pleased at where the moment was leading us. "Okay," I said. "So... we're going for it?"

"Yes... I mean, I'd like to."

"So would I." I took a moment to pause, letting the thought of being in a relationship sink in. And it wasn't just any regular relationship... there was so much going on around me, so much I'd have to do, and I had no idea what Lex made of the fact that I was technically half-Irken. Of the fact that I'd eventually have duties to Miyuki's side, as much as I hated to admit that part. Still, I wanted to make the most of what time we could share together, since I couldn't stand to make nothing of what had just transpired between us. I'd do my best to be all I could for her, I told myself then and there. "So... yeah?" I guessed.

"We're dating?" Lex added. I liked the sound of that.

"Yeah," I agreed. "We're dating."

– – –

I gave up on my duties for the rest of the day, since I really only had a couple of meetings lined up anyway. I felt a little bad at leaving it all to Gaz to attend them, and hopefully she'd catch me up, but it would have been awful of me to declare myself in a relationship with Lex and then apologize and leave her for the rest of the afternoon.

It was a pretty nice day, for December, so Lex and I went for a long walk in the fields outside. When she'd get cold, I'd hug her close to me, and she'd laugh, and then we'd pause for a moment, just enjoying one another's company.

We used that afternoon to catch up, as we decided to put it. At her request, I told her about my childhood. It felt pretty good to finally get to let out my true feelings regarding my past family life to someone, and Lex listened intently, telling me she felt sorry that I had such weak ties with my father. Once my life story was done, Lex told me a little more about her own family, especially her father. He'd divorced her mother, Amelia, when Lex was seven, but she said she didn't mind much. Her mother hadn't fully supported Victor's infatuation with the supernatural, especially vampires, even from the beginning, so she said it was a wonder the two ever married in the first place. Lex had been hunting and studying vampires since she was old enough to read, she told me, and her favorite novel was, of course, _Dracula._ She'd read it at least ten times, each time finding something new that could help her in her further studies.

She'd been educated at a private school in England, and taught on the side by her father in things not covered in formal education. She was lucky to have had a parent who encouraged her to study the supernatural, and I told her so, feeling almost a little jealous.

As the day was winding down, Lex told me a little bit about her past relationships. She'd been in two, both of which had ended poorly after having gotten off to rocky starts anyway. She admitted that she once considered herself shallow—she liked taller guys, but finding them, she said, was hard, since she was rather tall herself, which distressed her to a point—but was finding new things about herself that could work her out of setting standards for others. When I asked her if I met any of her old standards, she just laughed, then admitted that she'd never been attracted to anyone who wore glasses before, something about her father wearing them that usually turned her off, and that she normally liked blue or green eyes, but with me, she said, she'd overlooked the usual standards. I was her first that she chose for personality. (Though she did tell me straight out that she liked my looks, then blushed immediately afterward. And for once in my life I actually cared about a girl's opinion on the matter.)

When we arrived back at the main building, her right hand was clasped in my left. We'd been walking that way for probably the past half hour. It felt amazing, being so close to someone else, someone I could really open up and be myself with. I was that same type of person for her, and in several ways that was even more rewarding. Lex paused before we could reach the door, stopping and turning to face me, tugging a little at my left sleeve with her free hand.

"You want to stay out here for a little while?" I asked her.

She shook her head. "No, it's all right; it's getting cold anyway, and besides, we should make some sort of appearance at dinner. I just..." She sighed a little, smiling as she did so, and stepped closer to me. "How are we going to tell the others? Just... let them find out on their own? I mean, my father will find out right away, and probably your sister..."

"Let's just take things one day at a time," I suggested.

Lex smiled again. "I like that," she said. "We'll go from there."

There was another long pause, and only a slight tension between us. I could sense from her aura that she wanted to take things just a little further at that point in time, but she was awfully nervous, as I found that I was as well. Things between us were moving much faster than I'd anticipated, but then again I hadn't had previous experience with how relationships usually ran. When it seemed that the tension couldn't build any further, Lex ended it by simply moving closer and hugging me. I gladly returned the gesture, keeping her close.

When we pulled away, we both laughed a little, inexplicably. No other words were exchanged, but really they weren't necessary. I led Lex back inside, taking and hanging her coat for her in the entryway. Once we'd slowly made our way into the living room and kitchen area, I noticed that Gaz was helping Zim with dinner. I thought immediately of shooting my own foot off when I realized Lex was supposed to be on rotation with Zim that evening. Of course my sister would volunteer to help him after Lex didn't show, even if she couldn't cook to save her life.

"Welcome back," Gaz greeted, a little flatly. "You were gone all day."

"I know," I apologized, casting a quick, warning look over at Zim before continuing speaking with my sister, "I didn't plan for that to happen, sorry."

"You didn't miss anything," she grumbled, setting out only a few plates at the counter, rather than the table. "Red and Purple aren't joining us tonight," she explained, "and neither is the Professor, no clue why. So we're just waiting for Nacea, and Tenn if she cares."

Nacea, I realized, might feel a little let down when she figured out that Lex and I had started going out, but then again, I was sure she didn't completely understand the concept of relationships anyway, so I put that thought to rest. I also began wondering about what could have gone on between Gaz and Zim while we were gone, even though I'd kept telling myself to remove myself from that.

As it turned out, neither of them had made a move. I would later find out that all they'd talked about was a possible Irken ship sighting, which was why Red and Purple had chosen to skip dinner that night, in order to watch the monitors so we could all be prepared.

Zim excused himself midway through dinner, complaining of a persistent pain in his right arm—he'd been getting twinges, apparently, all through the past month. I hadn't seen anything bad come of it, other than Zim having to switch out that bandage of his every so often since the wound would continue opening up, but it was something I knew I needed to watch out for. That night, though, nothing really bothered me.

Gaz cast Lex and I a little questioning glare, which we both responded to with a slight smile and a shrug. She understood right off, and told us to leave so that she could clean up before she could change her mind.

Immediately after dinner, Lex silently pulled me to the side and suggested that we go somewhere. I didn't object, so after a quick glance over my shoulder to make sure Gaz had everything taken care of, I slipped away with her down the hall and into the grand corridor leading to the rest of the building. Lex paused in front of the music room, then said, "Let's go back in here. I want to play for you."

I certainly didn't object to that, so we entered the music room and Lex led me silently back towards the grand piano. "The piano?" I wondered. Mom's instrument...

"I learned something on it recently," Lex admitted. "If you don't mind, I'd like for you to be the first to hear it."

"I don't mind at all."

Lex smiled, sat at the bench and thought for a moment, then began to play a beautiful, classical piece from memory. I stood nearby, leaning over the back of a chair, and listened intently. Every piece of music she played was new to me, and made me feel pretty sorry that I hadn't given any sort of music the time of day before I'd started listening to her.

Lex's fingers moved deftly over the piano keys, the melody pouring from the instrument and filling the air, giving life to the previous silence. As I could see just from her movements, Lex was putting her soul into her music, and that carried through every phrase she played. When she finished, she drew in a long, deep breath, pleased with the work she'd done, then turned and rose, walking back over to me.

"You didn't have to stop," I told her, speaking quietly.

"Well, the song was over," she said, taking my hands in hers, "and I couldn't think of anything else to play. I'm just really happy you wanted to listen."

"Of course," I told her. "I haven't listened to piano music in... years."

"And it was okay?"

"It was incredible."

Lex moved in closer, resting her head on my shoulder, then asked softly, "Are we moving too fast?"

"I couldn't say," I admitted, allowing myself to then rest my head on hers, "but, I mean, I like it. No matter how fast or slow we take things, Lex, I'll still be here."

Before the tension could begin again, Lex nuzzled against me a little, then let her eyes flutter open for a brief moment before closing them again and bringing herself even closer. I could feel her breathing. I'd never been in such a situation before, but somehow I was doing well with what I assumed would eventually come as naturally to me as anything. I leaned in a little more, then, before I could even think about how to go on from there, we were kissing.

It was just small and quick at first, and honestly it surprised me a bit, but when Lex drew back for a second then immediately kissed me again, I became more comfortable with what was happening, and let myself sink into it. I hadn't expected anything like that to happen so soon, but it was positively exhilarating. There was no doubt in my mind, at that point. I wanted to stay with her, but I remembered that I was the one who suggested we take things one day at a time. Still, I did like the pace at which everything was moving, war or no war. I felt wonderful. I certainly wouldn't mind falling in love with Alexandria Haynsworth.

When she drew back out of the long kiss, I rested my forehead on hers again. "Wow," I breathed, completely against my will.

Lex laughed a bit. "Don't tell me that was your first kiss," she said, grinning brightly.

"Alright," I agreed, "I won't tell you that."

She laughed again, squeezing my hands, still clasped in hers, then swung her arms slightly in a playful manner. "Dib," she said, her words nervous but somehow strong, "I'm really, really happy when I'm with you. I really liked talking to you today, and I want us to keep going like this. I've never enjoyed anyone's company this much before. I really do like you."

"You, too," I told her, instinctively leaning in and giving her another small kiss.

We stayed up late, still in the music room, just talking, occasionally pausing for a musical interlude, as Lex jokingly put it. At the end of the night, I walked her slowly back down the halls to the room she shared with my sister. And then, happily, I kissed my girlfriend goodnight.

– – –

– – –

**Author's Note:**

:3

Awww, Dib. ^^ Is he possibly loosening up a little…? He's been pretty uptight for a while, maybe this will finally let him ease up a bit…

Aaaaaaaand tomorrow will be the final chapter of _Transitions!_ We'll shift back to Zim's narration for that, but my gracious, whatever could be in store…? I'm seriously so excited, guys. Sooooo much is in store for _Part Three,_ are we ready? ^^ Tomorrow is one of my favorite chapters, so stay tuned! It'll be updated some time in the evening~ (hopefully not too late!)

You are all awesome, thank you all so much for your comments and support! See you **tomorrow, October (omg) 1****st****! **

~Jizena~

– – –


	26. Transitions Finale 5: Sick of the Lie

– – –

**Author's Note:**

_Invader Zim_ is -c- Jhonen Vasquez! Only the events of this story, characters specific to the story, and character tweaking (heh) are mine. :3

~Jizena~

– – –

_Zim's Records_

The weeks that followed Lard Nar's death were a mix of joy and sadness. That was before the end, you see.

One thing was for sure: Dib having a girlfriend was probably the best thing that could have happened to the whole damn Corporation. He eased up on everyone's schedules, he kept a more level head. I'd be on dinner rotation with him and he wouldn't glare at me or try to bite my head off every time I attempted to say something. In a word, the guy had become friendly. Which was weird. Dib was a lot of things (annoying, a smart-ass, over-motivated, stubborn... annoying), but friendly wasn't one anybody was used to.

It had happened though, and at just the damn right time, too. Because he was starting to seem so much more relaxed, I thought several times about talking to him. Telling him about the Mandylion, about what I needed to do to earn a soul, that I was becoming more and more certain that Tak's stalling probably had to do with the fact that this time she wanted full-out psychological warfare. I thought about it, yes... but I said nothing. I held it in, because Dib being nice was too much of a good thing to fuck up by saying, _oh, hey, so my PAK is still alive and it's making me black out sometimes._ That would not have been the best move on my part.

So I kept it in. Yes, that was also a pretty bad idea, but if the Tallest wouldn't talk to me there wasn't much else I could do. They were being worse than secretive. Those two were helping, selectively, and had estimated possible dates for Tak's inevitable attack on us, but even their work on that seemed like an excuse to occupy time, to keep something vital hidden from me. I had to put up with their silence, and deal with the voice in my head on my own.

At times, I wouldn't be able to tell if it was a thought from my own mind, or a whispered suggestion from my PAK. It usually came in the evening, which was good, since it didn't interfere with my daily schedule much, but it meant having a lot of restless nights. We passed Christmas and into the New Year uneventfully, which bothered me somewhat. The longer I was left alone to wonder, the worse I'd feel about just what my healing PAK could be capable of, and just what Tak would be capable of because of it.

I thought back to our brief 'partnership,' back on the _Massive._ She'd been planning something she hadn't told me the details about for such a long time, and even hinted at my past. _"Remember it all or forget everything,"_ she had said to me. _"I'm just helping you make the right choice."_

So had she known? Had she known that allowing me an extended time in a human body would eventually lead to the rekindling of memories I'd long since erased? I had a feeling that everything came down to that incident with Miyuki, and that everyone had known that all along but me.

It was horrible that no one would listen to me when I wanted to talk about my worries concerning my PAK. Well, of the only ones who _could:_ Tenn or the Tallest. I thought about going to Tenn, who had witnessed the worst of my blackouts (since it was hardly a _blackout_ at all, so much as a mind shift), but she didn't want to talk. Purple always apologized that he couldn't say anything, and left before our conversations could continue. Red downright told me _no,_ and on one occasion, went as far as to say, "I have bigger things to be thinking about."

"Right, like Tak?" I wondered. "Then, _please,_ my Tallest, I'll gladly join a conversation on—"

"Zim, you really don't know what you're prying into," Red snapped.

"Then tell me something so I _will!"_ I shouted back.

"No," he repeated firmly, glaring at me while putting the four-inch height advantage he had over me to damn good use in his stance. "I'm not ready to talk about that. Not with you or anyone."

Right. The only person he really did talk freely with was his partner, who I would catch sometimes not even listening. Purple seemed to be off in his own world more and more, and he was projecting an air of melancholy that didn't seem to fit with what I'd always assumed to be his character. The long silences, the constant apologies for things he wouldn't talk about.

But he did talk to me one evening in January. Briefly, but we spoke. I was alone in the kitchen while I waited for Gaz to show up so that we could start making dinner, when Purple arrived surreptitiously and put the kettle on for tea. He seemed to be in a daze. Christmas (what little was celebrated of it at the complex that year) had downright confused Red, but seemed to have depressed Purple somewhat. I never got his full story on that, but now that we were well into winter, I wondered if he'd shed any light on exactly how he felt about being on Earth.

I remembered him protesting Tak's plan, initially. He'd protested, but Red had heard her out. Their dynamic could not have been more... confusing.

"Oh," he said, looking up at me after we'd both been in the kitchen a good two minutes, "hi. I didn't see you."

_Right,_ I almost said,_ I'm six feet tall and wearing a red sweatshirt, and you didn't see me._

"That's fine," I said instead. "What are you doing?"

"Making tea," he muttered, leaning back against the counter near the stove. He kept his head bent so that he couldn't look at me; his low ponytail shifted down over one shoulder and caught on the collar of the long-sleeved shirt he wore, which seemed slightly too big for him.

"Gotten a taste for it?" I guessed, nearly laughing.

"It calms me down," was his humorless response.

He glanced up at me a little, his eyes less sharp and cutting behind the curtain of his bangs, primarily that longer purple segment, which he then tucked back behind his right ear before he turned around to rummage through the tea box Lex and her father had organized.

"Um..." I began, stopping myself at the last second from saying 'sir,' "out of curiosity, is being here on Earth taking any kind of a toll on you and Red? I mean, I _want_ to be human and it's getting to me, so..."

"Red's more of a jerk than ever," Purple came back at me with, selecting a tea bag before standing on his toes to grab a mug from the cupboard above him. He shook his head, turned slowly to face me, and said, "Zim, there's so much we need to tell you, but Red's the one with final say."

"That doesn't make any sense," I tried. At that point, Gaz walked in from outside, gave me a slight wave, and started removing her boots and coat. Purple glanced over at her when she was no longer looking in our direction, and I was a little disturbed by how long he held his gaze there before turning back to pour the now-boiling water into his mug. "Purple," I prompted, which got him to set the kettle down again with a bit of a slam, "if you and Red share power, why isn't there anything you alone can—"

"Red and I share _nothing,"_ he hissed out. Before claiming his tea, he took in a deep breath, and let it out slowly while pushing his hands down to his sides for added stress relief. He then picked up the mug, attempted to smile at me, and left the kitchen area saying, "Nothing like that, anyway. The only things I share with that uptight idiot are volumes of hardly mutual agreements and an unjust understanding. To hope for _power_ would be to hope for wings. It simply can't happen."

When he crossed into the next hall, I heard Gaz say, just to make conversation, "Hi."

"Hello, Gaz," Purple said in return. "Is it very cold outside?"

"Cold, yeah," Gaz shrugged, sliding off the wool socks she'd been wearing in her boots over her tights (as, yes, she still wore skirts in the winter; I couldn't really imagine her caving to wear pants much outside of her pajama pair), "but it's not really snowing yet." Purple did not respond... just took a sip of tea and kept his eyes on her for a lingering moment. What the _hell?_ "What kind of tea is that?" Gaz wondered, throwing on a black sweater she had hanging in the hallway.

Purple wrapped his hands around the warm mug, paused for a second before answering, then finally said, "Who knows? It's tea." And with that, he withdrew to the room he shared with the declared 'uptight idiot.'

Gaz shrugged him off and joined me in the kitchen with a, "Hey... sorry I'm kinda late."

"That's fine," I said, hearing my words come out a little strained.

"What's with you?" she wondered.

"Nothing." Gaz, who had, in the past few months, grown about an inch and a half, looked up at me with concern before turning away to leaf through the book of recipes open on the connecting counter. For clarification, I ventured to ask, "Do you and Purple talk a lot?"

"Huh? Not really," she told me. "I mean, I'm there with Dib when the Tallest talk about Tak and the _Massive_ and stuff, and I feel like I know him better than Red, but that's about it."

"You know him, huh?"

"I don't know, that's just the feeling I get! What?"

_"Nothing."_

Feeling, all of a sudden, overly protective, I walked over to her, leaned against the counter beside her and, without asking, wrapped my left arm around her waist. "Sorry," I felt it necessary to say.

"For what?"

"I don't know," I sighed. "Never mind. Or... well... sorry if I've seemed checked out at all lately."

Gaz turned to look directly at me, her face so close to mine, and said, "You have seemed kinda... off. I've been hoping you're okay."

"You have?" I wondered, trying not to grin too broadly at hearing her concern.

"Yeah," she said. "I get kinda worried about you."

"Well," I said, "I appreciate that."

Little else happened that evening, but there was so much more I was suddenly looking out for. Purple's comments and actions made me feel almost sorry for him, without quite knowing why, but at the same time, why the hell did he seem to want to talk to Gaz so badly? I felt such a need to protect her. From anything. Competition, for one. Tak, another. Maybe even myself if it boiled down to that. All I knew was that her birthday was approaching faster than I thought it would, which was a good thing, since I knew I wouldn't be in the dark about whatever was keeping her silent for much longer. But other truths were sure to hit first.

And they did.

– – –

Through all of the continuing confusion (and upheld lies), there was still some time to relax, however. It was too cold to do much outdoor training, and eventually the snow set in. It would come to days when Dib even had the generosity to give people time off, since so little work could be done in the snow... especially on one particular day, when we lost power.

It happened during breakfast, as I recall... in February. Near Valentine's Day, which I only knew because Lex had marked the calendar with a note saying, _Dib, if you forget, you're getting a real arrow through the heart. _Breakfast was nothing spectacular, I for one was eating granola, but I almost choked on it when, all of a sudden, my robot burst into the room.

GIR was running around screaming when the lights went out, bellowing something resembling, "All the fridge is gonna die!" and other such nonsense as he streaked through the halls.

"What just happened?" Gaz wondered.

"Probably just a power surge," said Dib. "No big deal. I'll go kick up the generator in a few minutes." GIR rushed through the room again, and Dib added, "Zim, if you don't mind, I might use GIR to supply extra energy."

"He's got _plenty,"_ I waved it off. "Go for it, if you're being serious."

And, drumroll: "Thanks."

Yeah, it got to the point where he was thanking me for things.

The rest of the power outage day was spent mostly in the dark. Dib went around letting others know what had happened, but was in no rush to start up the generator. Which I had to thank him for, because the day was a gift. Lex and her father lit up a fondue pot over a small gas grill that Charlotte had had in storage, and hot cocoa was made. Gaz sat curled up close to me on the sofa when the cocoa was passed out, and we silently kept each other warm.

The only one who really suffered during the power outage was Red, who complained the whole time (or, at least, after the laptop he'd been allowed to use ran out of battery). "How the fuck can anything survive without some _damn electricity?"_ he shouted at one point. The rest of us ignored him, and were just able to enjoy it.

Purple, the expert on ignoring Red, spent most of the day on the recliner, reading with the help of a battery-powered lantern, getting up only to make more tea. He didn't speak to anyone, just kept on reading, once again trapped in his own world. He came up with an Empire-related excuse to leave when Professor Haynsworth was also in the room, but otherwise just sat there alone, not bothering any of us if we didn't bother him. I never found out what he was reading, but it seemed to interest him a great deal.

Power came back on around nine at night, and to celebrate, Gaz and Lex left dinner for the music room, one of the few places on complex grounds that I hadn't really been in or even thought about yet. "What're they doing?" I asked Dib, who just laughed when the two of them left.

Grinning, he asked, "Have you ever heard them play?"

"Play what?" I wondered.

"You know, Gaz plays the guitar, and Lex plays violin." He sighed and leaned forward onto the counter as he started rambling, "She can play a couple things on the piano, too... there's this one piece she's getting pretty good at, but I like her violin more..."

"Must be nice having a girlfriend, huh?" I muttered. Also in attendance at dinner at that point were Nacea and Tenn. Tenn didn't react at all, but Nacea tensed somewhat. She hadn't shown any other signs of feeling put off by Dib starting something up with Lex, but I figured she might've felt _something._

"Yeah," Dib answered, sounding like he forgot who he was talking to. He and Nacea did, then, exchange a brief look of understanding, before he finally snapped back to the conversation with me and said, "Well, wait, ugh, I can't believe I'm asking this, but... Gaz isn't..?"

I shook my head. "I mean, not... she won't say we are, or aren't," I said.

"Oh." After a beat, his expression changed to one I was more used to seeing on him... that cautious look he'd always get. "Oh... yeah, and I think I know why. Well," he transitioned quickly, pushing back from the counter, "come on. I'm gonna go listen to them play. Anyone else can come too."

I followed, and that evening's impromptu concert was just us four. Honestly, it was kind of nice. No worries, no stress... I'd gone a few days with no PAK interruptions, which was fantastic. And the music really was wonderful. Gaz had become quite talented with her guitar, and to be honest, I focused mainly on her part, more than how well she was harmonizing with her roommate. They played together for a good half hour, creating a sound the likes of which I'd never even hoped to hear anywhere in the Empire. Gaz's rare passion in her guitar was enviable, and inspiring.

I had to hope that, someday soon, there would be no more secrets between us.

– – –

The pauses for music continued. It was a good winter distraction, and got us past the worst of the snow. Red would complain, but Red complained about everything. Purple tried not to have an opinion. The day he finally did let on to something, though...

...Everything changed.

When I went in to listen to both Gaz and Lex one afternoon in early March, it became something of a showcase. Gaz had been the one to call me back there so that I could give her my opinion on a song she'd learned on the guitar, which Lex backed her up on with her violin. Dib was obviously there as well, but nothing really felt strained between us. I was still getting used to that; it was weird. It was weird, and I knew it wouldn't last, but it was one of those things that was hard to settle into even as it was happening.

I'd been able to listen to those two a lot, but I hadn't heard Gaz sing, really, since the Incident, so when she began, it was the most beautiful sound I'd ever heard; it took my mind away from everything that was bothering me. Her thin white fingers danced nimbly over the strings, and her voice melded with the words which echoed through the room:

_"And if I had my way, I'd make the clock rewind. I'd live again that moment though I know I'll never find the future that I missed, a parallel line, where the world would be so bright that it could make us all go blind. And if I had my day, there's so much I'd reclaim. The sanctity of motion, the never-ending rain. The cardinal directions all pointing to the past, where realities converge, and for a moment, we're the same..."_

When that song had reached completion, Gaz handed things over to her roommate, who needed to work on a piece that she was particularly struggling with. As Lex shuffled through her sheet music, Gaz continued plucking her strings, and I watched each intricate movement. I'd never thought much about music before hearing Gaz play her guitar. She really did inspire me with nearly every move she made. I wanted to be human because of this girl. She made everything about that existence seem alluring. And with everything she did, I was drawn in further and further. I only hoped I really had that goal within my reach.

Lex hit a sour note on her violin and began to worry; her father, who wandered into the room at that point, quickly and kindly walked up and claimed her violin, demonstrated a fingering for her, and deftly played out the very chord she'd been struggling with. After Lex had thanked him and reclaimed her instrument, Dib laughed and asked, "Professor, is there anything you can't do?"

"There's plenty," he answered, sitting beside him, "you've simply never noticed." He paused, to hear his daughter's next attempt at the chord—which sounded a little better—before he added, "You can call me 'Victor,' you know."

Dib looked a little shocked and nervous, and said a, "Thank you," I could barely hear.

I watched as Gaz looked over at them, Dib and the Professor, and as she made the decision to sit out and let her roommate play. She sat down beside me—we were all in small wooden chairs that had been scattered around the room before arranging them in some semblance of order—and set down her guitar. "Why'd you stop?" I wondered.

Gaz shrugged. "I know what she's trying to play," she told me. "It's some big concerto or whatever it's called and there's no guitar part, and I haven't faked one yet. Plus, I don't really like playing classical."

"I liked hearing you sing again," I told her. "You're really good."

"Thanks," she said quietly, looking down at her hands, where they were folded in her lap.

Cautiously, I set a hand over hers, and snuck her a small kiss on the cheek. For a good long while, I sat there contemplating everything I wanted to say to her. How much I had to keep hidden. How much I was hiding, unknowingly, from myself. What would hurt her; how I could say things in a way that would allow her to continue trusting me.

All thoughts were interrupted, however, when a presence became known at the door. The girls had left the door open that particular afternoon, and others had stopped in frequently. Bloodrose and Charlotte, at one point... even Nacea had lingered for a while before leaving as silently as she had come. But this was unexpected.

So unexpected, Lex stopped playing. She stopped abruptly and stared at the open door, her eyes full of shock and confusion. When her father stood, so did we all, but nobody looked quite as agitated as the Professor. Agitated, concerned—hopeful and doubtful all at once. Humans really were a complex web of emotions. I couldn't keep up.

And I couldn't understand why Tallest Purple was standing in the doorway. Leaning, rather... or, had been. He'd been leaning on the right-hand side of the doorframe, most of his weight on that shoulder, and listening intently. Once we were all on our feet, however, he corrected his stance. Then, as if nothing else mattered, Purple showed a light, kind smile that did not match his sharp Irken eyes in the least.

"Don't stop playing on my account," he urged. "Brahms... right?"

Unintentionally, I drew in a startled breath. Dib and Gaz gazed at him in bewilderment, and I could barely even understand the way Lex and her father were staring; Purple merely blinked, not having seen anything wrong with his statement.

"You were playing Brahms, weren't you?" he asked Lex. "Violin Concerto in D?"

A little alarmed, she replied, "Well... y-yes, but..."

At that moment, Purple's eyes widened; he looked as though he knew now that he'd said something wrong, and took a step back.

"Purple..." Gaz began, "how did you know who the composer was..?"

Purple froze, then shook his head and backed away. "I-I..." he began, "I said nothing! Forget I said anything, it's my mistake! I really meant nothing!"

"Hold on a second!" I shouted after him as he began to leave the room. "Hey, Purple!"

"Wait, Zim!" Gaz tried as I began to follow the Tallest.

Not wanting to, I ignored her, and angrily chased my mysterious leader. I knew that he was hiding something, if not several things. The look in his eyes, the tone of his voice, the way he would constantly try to change the topic if anything ever got too deep, even the way Red seemed to be covering for him... all were pieces of evidence proving that Tallest Purple was not who he always said he was.

"Purple!" I shouted again as I caught up to him. "Just talk to me, dammit!"

"NO!" he shouted back. "I've already said way too much!"

Finally, I was neck in neck with him, and I grabbed him by the arm just before he could reach the front door of the main building. "Answer me, sir, I need to know—" I began.

"Don't call me that!" he practically screamed, stopping and whipping around to face me. There were tears in his eyes, narrowed and angry though they were. "How many times have I told you not to _call me that?"_

"All right, I'm sorry," I tried, "but—"

"Let go of my arm, Zim," he growled.

"But—"

"LET GO OF MY ARM!"

I did as he asked, completely shocked and confused by this point, and said, "Sorry, Purple, I—"

Full of rage that he could no longer control, he grabbed me by the front of my shirt and yanked me down so that I was at eye level with him. "I'm sick of that, too!" he barked. "I'm so sick of it, sick of it, _so DAMNED SICK OF IT!"_ He shoved me back, opened wide his arms, and cried out, "Strike me down, go for it, but my name isn't _Purple!_ I'm so done with that, I'm done with hearing it, I'm done with all these stupid, ridiculous _LIES!"_

He then let out a long shout and grabbed at his hair, digging his thin fingers in; I heard him choke, saw him attempt to brush off a couple of tears. My heart skipped a beat and I stumbled back a little. I knew it. I was right. There was something different about Purple. Something that nobody was ever meant to find out.

Something that explained why he could cry.

"That's not my name," he went on. "That's not my name and I don't care who knows, I don't care what happens to me, but I'm _done, I'm done!"_

"I..." I began, no longer knowing how to address him. "I'm... sorry, but... I don't... Purple, if..."

The _who are you?_ question didn't even have to come out. He just kept on going.

Dropping his hands, he glared up at me, and hollered, "My name isn't _Purple, it's Ira!_ You hear me? My name is _IRA!"_

And with that, consumed with a flurry of emotions no normal Irken could ever hope to comprehend, he stormed the rest of the way down the hall and out the front door.

My mind snapped back to that evening by the fire, when the Tallest and I had been traveling, when Red, trying to calm his partner down, had begun a thought with, _"I..."_

...Ira.

It fit within Irken name stipulations, but didn't sound like a Brain-produced name. Plus, why would a Tallest have to change his name? Red hadn't... Miyuki hadn't... so this called up several questions. So many concerns.

And, just my luck, who should throw open his door at that point but the Tallest himself. He stepped strongly out into the hallway, but when I turned to address him, Red's sharp eyes widened beneath his heavy eyelids, and the first words out of his mouth were, "Oh, shit..."

"Red!" I shouted at him as he tried to leave. "What the hell is going on?"

"What did you hear?" he snarled at me, turning back to face me with an awful glare.

"The truth, for once!" I hollered. "Would you mind explaining what the _fuck you've been covering up, Red?_ Is that _your_ real name? Or—"

"Of course it is, why wouldn't it be?" he snapped.

"Well, because _apparently,_ your partner is insisting that his name isn't 'Purple,' but Ira!" I told him, holding my ground even as Red advanced, once again using every bit of his height against me. I wasn't going to let it bother me. I wasn't going to let Red lie himself out of this one. There was no way he could. "And for a while, now, he's been showing a _hell of a lot_ of interest in this planet," I went on, recalling even the conversations I'd had with him on the _Massive. _"As much as I do, or more. So what happened to him? What's going on? I _know_ you've been lying to me for a really long time, so tell me this _one thing,_ Red!"

"Dammit, Zim, what did I say about getting into things that don't concern you?" Red barked at me. "Leave well enough alone!"

"Didn't you just_ hear_ me?" I spat back at him, disregarding any and all authority he still had over me. "My current 'past' was all a big lie, and I know it! And I know 'Purple' has something to do with why you felt it so necessary to cover up so many things! Red, who is he? What's so damn important that you have to lie about everything?"

"Zim, please, I'm only doing this to protect you!" Red shouted.

"Protect me, _nothing!"_ I hissed back. "Why?"

All of a sudden, Red's expression changed. His authority was being challenged, and nothing he could shout at me was shutting me up. His collected, regal air remained, but the large part of him that just enjoyed a good argument gave way to a more rational side that his subjects rarely (or never) saw.

"You..." he sighed, "you _asked me_ to protect you..."

Then why the lies? Was this something I'd asked him before I erased my memories? Protect me from what? From whom? _Myself?_ I felt a stab in my back, and my right arm flared up as I became filled with the sudden want to know who I was, even if it would hurt me... even if it would change my outlook on everything I'd chosen to fight for, I had to know. And I knew that I would be one step closer if I found out the truth about those around me. The mysteries surrounding the supposed Tallest would help me learn who I was, if not even remember every detail of those clouded years. Oh, the goal was still to be human, no doubt about that. But I had the feeling that what the Mandylion had kept asking of me was to overcome everything. I was being tested. Challenged. So, damn it all, I had to challenge everything I'd ever thought to be true.

Starting with someone named Ira.

"Red..." I began as strongly as I could, "tell me everything. Everything you know about your partner; everything I might have known in years past. He isn't hiding much anymore, and I have the right to know. You led me to believe that I knew you both in the time I no longer remember... and now I want to know the truth."

The Tallest fought himself for a moment, but when I remained unmoving, when I stared him down and demanded answers, he finally, finally caved. "All right," he growled, "listen up. I'm only going to say this once."

"I'm listening."

"My 'partner' hates being referred to as 'Purple,'" Red told me, "he hates being the Tallest. He has, for several years now. The truth is, I ruled alone for years before he stepped into that position."

"You what?" I yelped.

"Think about it, Zim! There's only ever been one Tallest at a time," Red snapped. "You know what used to happen to other tall Irkens? They became Elite Commanders. But if they got any taller, the Brains would _kill 'em!"_

"That's so stupid!" I shouted. "Then why is Purple ruling along with you? How's that even possible?"

"It was entirely accidental." Red stared past me, toward the front door, through which Ira had disappeared moments ago. Ever since coming to Earth, Red had acted oddly around his partner, and ever since my interim on the _Massive,_ Purple... well... Ira... had been craftily extracting information from me, and even goading me on. He had always been supportive of my want to be human. So maybe...

...But, no... no, that was impossible. That was impossible…

"An accident..?" I repeated, finding that I suddenly needed to catch my breath.

Red nodded stiffly and folded his arms. "In fact," he said, "it's his punishment."

"Punishment?" I repeated.

"He was judged," Red explained, still in a stern, commanding tone; he'd throw around his power no matter what. "At my command. The Control Brains decreed that being forced into the role of Irken Tallest was a just sentence for him, so with the Elite disbanded, the rules were bent, and Ira was dealt his punishment."

"Punishment for what?" I wondered.

"For learning about the Empire."

"What..."

"Zim," Red continued slowly, his eyes glistening. "Tallest Purple... used to be human."

– – –

**To Be Continued**

**in**

**Part Three:**

**_Memories_**

– – –

– – –

**Author's Note:**

Aaaaaaaaaaaaand, CLIFFHANGER! ^^

(When a friend of mine read this part back in 2007, she immediately turned around, slapped my leg, and demanded the next chapter. XD)

Yay, yay, we've finally come to one of my favorite chapters~! And probably my favorite cliffhanger, too. XD I just… I really, really love this part of the Saga, and from here, you can rest assured that _Part Three_ will start off with a bang.

_Part Two_ has gone through a LOT of revisions, but I'm very happy with the way it all ended up turning out. :3 One of the major additions I made to this chapter was adding in the song for Gaz, because, well… I have always associated that song with the ending of this chapter and Part. The song is "Cardinal Directions," by ThouShaltNot (and I highly recommend giving it a listen… in fact, ThouShaltNot are kind of my permanent soundtrack to _IZMS;_ I'll be mentioning their music again, to be sure, so this may sound like a huge plug but seriously, their music is incredible).

Purple was always one of my favorite characters on the show, but I realized there were some hints in his lines and animation that seemed to lean him toward being… not what he appeared to be. :3 (And thus I can complete my answer to the 'who is your favorite Tallest?' question... the show answer is Purple; the saga answer is Red, because... he's the only real Tallest! XD) (Honestly, augh, I get so excited about this saga from here on out. Not that I've never been, but I keep saying _Part Three_ is my favorite, and it's because we won't be in the dark about everyone much longer…)

_Part Three: Memories_ is probably the longest of the four main parts of the Saga, since there's so much ground to cover. Tak. Zim's past. The PAK, and Zim's rush to earn a soul. Dib and Gaz. Ira. The Haynsworths. Professor Membrane and Miyuki. Sooooo much going on, and so much will finally come to light~ It gets going and it hardly takes a break. XD Which is why I love it so darn much. (It's also one of the main reasons why I've rated this _M_ for violence… juuuust saying.)

We are HALFWAY THROUGH, guys! I honestly cannot thank you all enough for sticking with me for so long, for all of your incredible comments and reviews… for just being so awesome! Every single review that comes in makes me so ridiculously happy~! ^^

As I have done in the past, I will be taking a one-week hiatus between this part and the next, in order to edit more and start up a buffer, but I'm super insanely excited to get going into posting _Memories._ (Which, again, will be published as a separate story, so be sure to watch out for it!)

And so, everyone, thank you all so, so very much… I look forward to seeing you again on **Friday, October 14****th** **for **_**Part Three: Memories!**_:3

~Jizena~

– – –


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